Summer Love
by Sevandor1
Summary: In the middle of a long, scorchingly hot summer, Megamind needs a break to recover from a touch of heat exhaustion, and Minion has an idea for how to make the most of it. A little episode that takes place about a year after "Getting Away From It All."
1. A Minor Spate of Heat Exhaustion

_Author's Note: In response to the "Beat the Heat" theme for the week over on the LiveJournal community, my Muse came up with this. I've been working on the next story in my fanverse, "Legacy," and though it's proceeding, it's also a little on the heavy side. Dementia wanted a break, and so she started this. I have no illusions once again about it being a short story. I HOPE it won't be more than three or four chapters, since there isn't a huge plot to go with it, only a little one. But I thought it would be a nice change of pace. And whether or not you've been reading my fanverse stories, this may seem a little confusing in places. That's because it's set about a year after "Getting Away From It All" and "Getting Back to Business." "Legacy" will fall between those two and this one. So there are some... odd things going on. But other than the allusions to them in this chapter, none of it should be confusing. They don't really enter into this tale as more than a setting for where these characters are in their lives (now over three years post-movie). _

_Enough of my blathering! Enjoy! _

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><p>Part the First:<p>

A Minor Spate of Heat Exhaustion

"I told you that black is a bad color to wear during a heat wave, but did you listen to me? And I _told_ you that skin tight leather over an impervious polymer underskin would be like living inside your own private walking sauna, but did you pay attention? And—"

"All right, enough, I get the point, thankyouverymuch! Now please, Roxanne my love, can't you show just a _teensy _bit of sympathy for my ignominious condition? It's bad enough that I didn't take your sound advice to heart, but to then faint in front of the entire Metrocity Midsummer Festival, where I was the guest of honor...!"

Megamind shuddered where he was sitting in a bubbling tub full of cool water, the first of many instructions that the doctors in Metro Mercy's emergency room had given him for home care following his unexpected — but entirely predictable — spate of heat exhaustion. It had been impressive, for all that it had been embarrassing. One moment he had been in front of his Museum, wowing the throngs with an intricate aerial display with him and Minion on the small but nimble versions of the hoverbikes along with a phalanx of brightly glowing brainbots, and the next moment he found himself being lowered to the ground by some very worried little cyborgs who had fortunately been there to catch him when he passed out from the heat and fell from his bike. Minion and the bots had been able to keep the unmanned hoverbike from crashing, and the EMTs had hustled the woozy and mortified hero off to the hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion.

And it wasn't that his wife of not quite a year was unsympathetic; really, Roxanne understood exactly why it had happened, and why he felt so bad about it. Aside from the obvious embarrassment of collapsing in front of half of Metro City — not to mention all the video cameras of the assembled TV stations — Megamind had essentially been raised by a fish, a cold-blooded creature. Living in his environmentally controlled habitat as he did, Minion had limited appreciation for the troubles that warm-blooded humans experienced during bouts of extreme weather.

As long as his suit was in good working condition, Minion was good to go, able to turn up the heat or the cooling as needed. Even in open waters, if things got too extreme, he could always swim down to levels that were more moderate. He felt sorry for the ways his friends suffered during heat waves and bitter cold spells, but he had only so many ideas for what to do about it. His best suggestion was too get into cold water, just like the doctors had advised. He could also provide nice, chilled rehydrating drinks and an assortment of ice packs and cold towels, but that was the extent of his ability to make things better.

"Nobody blamed you, sir," the ichthyoid told his grown ward, now his partner in crime fighting, as he entered the master bathroom where Megamind was immersed in a part of the large multi-purpose pool, which though bubbling away was also currently filled with cool water. He came bearing a tray with cups and ice and a big pitcher of fresh lemonade. "Even with the reflecting pool and the fountains going, the temperature on the plaza was at least 102 during the opening ceremonies. They really should've been more sensible and postponed things until evening, when at least the sun isn't beating down on all that concrete!"

"Yes, and they shouldn't've insisted you come decked out in your full working costume," Roxanne added from where she sat on the pool's wide marble surround, frowning. "I don't care how good it looks on camera, it was just ridiculous! You'll notice none of the other dignitaries were dressed so badly for the weather! Even the mayor showed up in shorts and a Hawaaian shirt!"

The tuckered hero's green eyes rolled most expressively as he gratefully accepted the tall glass of cold lemonade that she took from Minion's tray and passed to him. "I would _never _appear in an official capacity, dressed like that! I have a much better sense of what's appropriate on such occasions than Mayor Jones. He didn't even look _good _in that garish outfit!"

"Agreed," was Roxanne's surprisingly amiable answer. "But in the future, I want you to consider the appropriateness of what _you _wear. On sunny, blisteringly hot days like today, black is _not _a good option, not unless you plan to spend only two or three minutes out in the full sun, and then only if what you're wearing is made of a thin, breathable fabric. I think it's time you brought your old white hero outfit out of mothballs and worked on redesigning it into something that's still your style, but more practical for times like this."

She leaned forward and gave him a particularly impish look. "You know I've always thought you look good in white, and I haven't seen it on you since our wedding."

Her genius husband sighed ponderously. "I know, but really, I've had an awful lot of things on my plate, ever since last November."

She nodded, recalling everything that had come to light on that fateful weekend before Thanksgiving. "I'm not blaming you, sweetie, of course you've been busy, and I'm proud of all the decisions you've managed to make since then. These things can't be rushed, after all. But I think we can figure out a way to fit in something as simple as a sensible summer costume for you to wear in this excruciatingly hot weather. After all, you have your special winter outfits, so why not one or two for summer, when the weather gets beastly and the demands on a hero don't let up?"

"I think Mrs. Roxanne has an excellent idea, sir," Minion piped up cheerfully. "I have a few ideas for a summer costume in the design stage, and it wouldn't take too long to work them up, after you decide what you'd like and give the okay. And it's not like you'd need to wear it all summer, just during these miserable hot spells."

Megamind groused. "Which has been nearly constant ever since the middle of June! All right," he relented when both of them gave him the fish eye. "Go ahead and let me see what you've got. It's not like I'll need it immediately, anyway. The doctors were pretty insistent, I should take the next week to rest and let Wayne fill in for me, as per the agreement with the city."

Roxanne approved. "I'm glad the two of you and the city were able to work things out. It's funny, though, that filling in for you as the city's defender when you're off or sick or need extra help is part of Wayne's community service. I would've expected people to either want him back full-time or to not want him around at all. But I guess taking time away from what he'd rather be doing is a kind of punishment — and for all he did, they still don't hate him. Or you."

Now, Megamind sighed thoughtfully as he sipped his lemonade. "I have to admit, it's something of a surprise that they seem to prefer me to him, now — but then, for all that I look so different, I'm actually more like an ordinary person, not a walking god. More accessible. Oooh, Minion, this is good!" he exclaimed as he drained his glass and held it out for a refill. "This is _much_ better than the stuff we usually buy."

"That's because it came from fresh lemons, not a bottle," the ichthyoid replied with happy pride as he poured another round. "And I added real sugar and a little of the extra electrolytes the doctors said you should have. Mr. Wayne said he'll be taking care of things for both of us until this heat breaks, even if it's longer than a week, so I'll be happy to start working on some summer outfits for you, sir. I do hate to see you suffer in the heat."

The soaking blue hero made an odd little sound as he took an appreciative sip. "Yes, well, if I just had the time to sit down and finish doing the final modifications of my protective force field, it wouldn't be an issue. The inclusion of protections from thermal extremes is actually quite simple, now that I see just how it can be done, it's the aspect of making it self-actuate and sustain during long periods of extreme conditions rather than the mere duration of a concentrated attack that's a bit trickier. Though if I went down to the lab..."

Roxanne pushed him back into the tub as he started to rise. "Uh-uh, the doctors said rest, and that's what you're going to do. You put one foot in the lab and we won't see you again for two days."

He pouted. "But—"

She stilled his protest with a kiss. "I know it's hard for you to not want to spend all your time making these new ideas you've been getting a reality," she said after she'd calmed him back into a state of bliss. "It's part of your destiny, after all. And while I'm behind that a hundred percent, it _was_ your idea to take it slow, and I still think it's a good idea. Especially now, when you're a bit under the weather, literally. Cut yourself a little slack, sweetie. Take the week off like the doctors said. There'll still be plenty of time for you to change the world when you're all better."

Megamind subsided, but not without regret. "It won't be easy, you know, not here where all my facilities are practically begging to be used. And then there's—"

"Oh, no!" Roxanne declared, folding her arms across her chest as she gave her husband her most stern, no-nonsense glare. She didn't even need to ask what he was going to say. "_That_ is absolutely, positively off-limits for the rest of the week!"

The big green eyes looked up at her in his best sad puppy pleading. "But Roxanne, love, that isn't work! It's no more of a strain than if you decided to relax and read a book..."

"Yes, if I decided to sit down and read a dozen technical journals, which may be fun for you but not by my definition! And you can give me that face all you want, but I'm not budging! The Teacher is off-limits for the rest of this week, and if I have to ask Wayne to take it and hide it, I will. I mean it, Mykaal. I know how exciting this is for you, but you've told me it's scary, too, and neither one is good for you when you need to rest, really rest."

Megamind pouted again, but not for long. "Okay," he surrendered, with only a touch of wistful regret. "You're right, I know you're right. Sometimes the things I learn are _really _exciting and just mind-boggling, and sometimes they just scare the pants off me because... Well, for a lot of reasons, and I never know which it's going to be until it's over. I'll be good, I promise."

Roxanne's smile returned as her posture relaxed. He sounded almost childlike in his sincerity. It was a strange thing to see lately, as his confidence in himself and in his role as a hero had grown dramatically, but his innocent wonder was still very much a powerful and endearing part of his personality. She leaned over to kiss his temple. "These days, you're _always_ good, sweetie," she soothed. "Except for when you're bad in a good way, and I don't mind that at all."

Minion concurred. "Mrs. Roxanne is right, sir, you do need a bit of rest from the heat and from all the hard work you've been doing — but _you_'re right, too. I don't think you're going to get it here with so much temptation around. Why don't you spend the week up at the lake house? That's why you have it, after all, to have some place to go when you need to get away."

Roxanne was not successful in holding back a sudden burst of laughter. Megamind looked at her, confused as to why such a simple suggestion would cause that reaction. She explained. "He's been hinting to me about it ever since the heat wave cranked into high gear. If I didn't know better, I'd think he met a lady fish while we were up there last summer, and he wants to go back and get better acquainted."

The water in Minion's habitat bubbled and frothed furiously as he sputtered in response. "No, that's not true! I didn't meet another fish! Not that I have anything against them, but Earth fish are, well... dumb animals. Ordinary fish. Dolphins, now they're people you can talk to, and some whales, too. But they aren't fish, and they're not freshwater dwellers, like me."

Intrigued, Megamind leaned back in the tub, resting his head against the curved surface designed to cradle his cranium. He considered his old friend and the conversation. "Yes, I can see your point," he drawled in reflection. "Terran fish just aren't the same as your much more advanced species. Any relationship with them would be rather pet-like at best, and that just wouldn't do. So who did you meet that you want to go back to see?"

Despite his differing circulatory system, Minion managed to blush quite furiously. "I didn't say I'd met anyone..."

"True. But who _did _you meet?"

The ichthyoid bubbled and sputtered for another minute, then finally surrendered. "A friend of Sunny's — you remember, the woman who owns the nice leather shop."

The big blue head nodded. "I remember. Are you talking about Astrid Kjørsvik, one of the summer workers from Norway?"

Minion shuffled his feet, but also nodded. "Yes, Astrid. She's a really nice young lady, and we've sort of been keeping in touch through email. She went to college for an advanced degree in aquatic biology and limnology at Eastern Michigan University..."

Roxanne's eyes widened. "In Ypsilanti? That's only a few hours from here. And you only kept in touch through email?"

Minion made a coughing gargly sound. "She's not my girlfriend, Mrs. Roxanne, just a friend. And I didn't want to interfere with her studies more than I already have."

A broad smile slowly spread across Megamind's face. "He's a very polite fish, my dear. He may have scads of acquaintances in various clubs and societies and sewing circles, but he thinks it's scandalous for him to have too many friends who are just friends — and _only_ his, not mine." His eyes shifted back to the uneasy ichthyoid, still sparkling with his smile. "Have you told her your real name?"

The cough became a stammer. "Ah...I, uh, well, that is, I didn't think — but maybe..."

"You did." There was no question in the soaking hero's smug words. "And she took another summer job up in Sister Bay, this year. And you want to send the two of us up there to our lake house for me to rest so you'll have an excuse to go along and visit with Astrid face to face."

While Megamind ticked off things as he saw them, Minion floated lower and lower into his bowl, until little more than his knobby crests and the very tops of his eyes were visible. From the movement of the water inside the dome, one could tell his fins were flittering in agitation. "Okay, yeah, I do," he admitted in a small voice. "I like Astrid, a lot. Does that make me a terrible person?" He sounded as if he did indeed think that to be the case, that a fish liking a human woman and wanting to be a close friend to her was some hideous perversion for which he should be subjected to the notorious fish boil while still alive.

His partner was making an exaggerated show of considering his answer; Roxanne gave him a playful swat upside his big head. "No, I'd say that makes you a _person,_" was her opinion_._ "Everybody wants to feel special to someone else, Minion, and for intelligent beings, it's more than just wanting a mate in the way animals do. The two of you both come from a planet where emotions of all kinds were very important, much more than they are here on Earth. If you want to be a special friend to Astrid, you need to build on the relationship you have now. It'll help to actually spend time with her, and I think it's sweet that you want to do it."

"Until he brings her home to the lake house after work one night and we find them making out in the indoor pool," Megamind quipped into his lemonade glass.

His wife gave him a scolding glare; Minion protested immediately. "Oh, _no_, sir, I wouldn't do that, not unless all she wanted to do is swim! It's not like you're implying at all!"

"So if she _was _a fish, you wouldn't be interested in her?"

Minion tried to say both yes and no at the same time with such vehemence, he managed to work himself into a speechless tizzy. Roxanne cuffed her husband again, a bit more in earnest, and he relented.

"I'm sorry, Minion, that was rather crass of me," he apologized, and actually sounded sincere. "I do know how you feel. Most of my life, I didn't think anyone on Earth would ever be interested in being my friend, much less a _close_ friend. It's very difficult to watch people all around you, enjoying what you think you can never have. Thinking you can never have love of that kind, to be that special to someone else, even if it's just as a very, _very _good friend... that's the most difficult thing of all."

Roxanne was moved by his willingness to be so open with his guardian, and so was Minion. "I know, sir," he said softly, rising again in his habitat. "It was the hardest thing for me to watch you suffer, wanting friendship and love and thinking you'd never have more than me."

The smile Megamind gave him was wan, but warm. "Don't belittle yourself, Tori. You have always been a true friend to me, even when I didn't reciprocate very well. And I understand perfectly why you want something more for yourself, now. It's quite natural. And it's certainly not terrible, or perverse. People can love one another quite deeply without being physical mates, after all."

His bright green eyes lit up with excitement. "As a matter of fact, I just recently learned that back home, there was an entire _shkool_ — literally a _shkool,_ a university, actually — of philosophy dedicated solely to the research of love in all its different manifestations, and there was a particular kind they found was remarkably common, but that the humans here only marginally grasp in the concept of _agape — _still, if they do have that rudimentary understanding of it, it's entirely possible that a close relationship based on this kind of love without involving such things as primal reproductive urges and physical instincts would be deemed acceptable, at least to certain parts of society, and from what I know of the Scandinavian peoples, they—"

Roxanne put one hand over his mouth to end the babble fit. He was prone to those a lot, these days, and while she couldn't blame him for his enthusiasm, she did occasionally need to intervene when he got carried away and wasn't looking apt to come out of the fit soon.

"We get the idea," she told him, her tone apologizing for her abrupt action. "You think it's a good thing, and you're behind it. So am I, Minion. Maybe a few days up at the lake house _would _be a good idea. With it being summer, I've got free time at work, and the city has Wayne to keep an eye on things while this silly goose gets the rest he needs."

She removed the hand from her husband's mouth and used it to pat his head. "Besides, with the heat wave hanging on like this, all the beaches from here to Traverse Bay and down to Indiana are so crowded, even the brainbot shore patrols can't keep 'em clean enough to suit me. We have a nice private little beach up at the lake house, it's clean and it isn't crowded. We can use it any time of day we want, not just when the parks are open, so we can have fun in the nice cool lake water but _not _when the sun's hot enough to fry eggs on a bald man's head."

She smiled at Megamind, who was debating whether or not he should be insulted by her little joke. "What do you think, sweetie?" she asked. "Does that sound like a nice way to take a short recuperative break to you? All three of us?"

He decided that she wasn't being mean, that she was just trying to point out how afternoons spent baking in the sun were not good for someone who had just suffered a minor bout of thermal shock. His answering smile was sly. "Do you and I get to spend the hot parts of the day somewhere nice and cool and shady — and private?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Roxanne giggled back, quite aware of the kind of privacy he had in mind. "Oh, absolutely!"

"No problem, sir!" Minion agreed, also conscious of what his friend was implying. He collected the empty lemonade pitcher and glasses before taking them back to the kitchen. "I can use the boathouse apartment again, and I'll email Astrid and find out what her working hours are and when we can get together — we can even bring Madeleine along to handle cooking, if you want to stay in. She's getting to be quite a good little sous chef, for a brainbot — and oh, Astrid would love to see her, I just know it..."

As the cyber-bodied fish ambled off to the kitchen, in the midst of his own happy babble fit, making plans for a short vacation, Roxanne leaned down and gave her still soaking spouse a soft, loving kiss. When she broke it and Megamind gave her a puzzled, if appreciative look, she explained. "That's for being such a good friend to Minion. I know that he's envied us our relationship — the love and the intimacy, not the sex — and I was afraid you wouldn't approve."

"Why shouldn't I?" he replied with a modest shrug. "He spent so much of his life trying to make mine happy, he deserves anything I can do to help _him _be happy, and have the life he wants, now that he doesn't _have_ to look after me. Besides," he added, stretching in the bubbling water, "I want to make sure she's good enough for him, even if it's just as a close friend."

"You're not going to turn the tables on him and play overbearing father checking out prospective girls for his son, are you?"

Megamind's dazzling smile and innocent, "Of course not!" was almost the full truth. "I wouldn't dream of interfering if he really likes her and wants to be her special friend — just so long as you and I get our private time while we're there. Can I get out of the tub, now?" he asked, sticking one foot above the water to examine it and his hands. "I think I'm turning into a _praooown..."_

Roxanne grinned as she whistled for Pinky to bring in fresh towels, not even bothering to correct his mispronunciation of _prune, _which she knew was deliberate. She had to admit, she'd been looking for an excuse to head out of town ever since the horrible hot spell had started over a month ago, and she wasn't about to pass up the chance. "You can get out of the tub if you promise to help me pack a bag — sensibly," she emphasized. "This is only for a week, not a month, so no bringing your work along."

The blue lips pursed in thought. "Are you leaving _yours _at home?" he countered.

"If you do, yes."

"Can I bring the de-gun, just in case?"

"As long as I can bring mine, too. There's nothing wrong with taking reasonable precautions."

"And my cell phone?"

"Only if you block the Mayor's hotline."

"Then you should do the same with _your_ bosses on your phone."

"Deal." She held out the towel for him, then pulled it back as he stood to get out of the tub. "You didn't install things in the lake house so you don't _have _to take some of that work stuff along, did you?"

The blue head shook emphatically. "No. After last summer and what Wayne told us about what happened when he didn't get away from being a hero as much as he should've, I _never _want to wind up so close to burnout again! The lake house is our _refuge, _not our out-of-town workplace. And I want it to stay that way."

Roxanne could see just how much he meant it, and held out the big fluffy towel again. "Good, we're on the same page. And no matter what Astrid is like, you _will _let Minion make his own decisions when it comes to her. Deal?"

Megamind didn't hesitate before saying, "Deal." After all, though Minion had tried to warn him, he'd had to discover the "joy" of heartbreak on his own to understand just exactly what he felt for Roxanne, and how strongly. There were some things a person couldn't be warned about, and had to experience first-hand to truly grasp.

But all things considered, the blue genius had already decided that if Astrid broke Minion's little heart, he'd invent a new, terrible setting on the de-gun, just for her.

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><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	2. Packing as a Competitive Sport

_Author's Note: I'm fairly certain now that this won't be a huge story, though it may be a little bit longer than my initial estimate. Dementia found a way to make it connect more strongly with my main story arc, which, if I'm lucky, means about seven chapters, tops. No promises, though. I never know what that crazy Muse of mine might wind up doing! And thanks as always to all my gentle readers and reviewers. Onward!_

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><p>Part the Second<p>

Packing as a Competitive Sport

While Megamind and Roxanne were happily finishing up with their packing that afternoon (happily because when Roxanne started to exert veto power over the clothing choices her husband would have made, Megamind retaliated by doing the same with hers, and the whole thing degenerated into alternating between the supremely silly and the not merely suggestive smarmy), Minion showed up, looking for all the world like a fish who has just had his sparkling clean bowl turned into a toxic waste dump.

"Astrid can't get out of work this week," he reported sadly, robotic feet dragging and shoulders slumped. "She took a job at one of the resorts this year, and this is their busiest week of the summer. Everyone's working overtime, and there isn't anyone available to fill in for her. She said she might be free one or two nights, but she'll probably be exhausted."

Both his friends looked highly suspicious; Roxanne was first to speak. "Are you sure this isn't her way of saying she doesn't want to see you?" It was a question she didn't enjoy asking, but she felt it would be better to speak frankly now than to invite even greater heartache later.

The ichthyoid pondered this for a bit. "I don't think so," he finally replied, reasonably certain. "She knows who and what I am, and that really doesn't bother her. I... never told you, but while you two were away on your honeymoon, she drove over from Ypsilanti for a day to visit. I showed her around town, and we really had a good time. She wasn't ever embarrassed to be seen with me, and she's been wanting to do something like that again. But she's a very hard worker, very honest, and she doesn't think it would be fair to her coworkers to make them pick up her slack just because I'm coming into town."

Megamind's face had contorted through a wide range of expressions as he listened; when Minion came to the end of his explanation, he had an idea. "I think I know how we can find out if she's telling the truth," he said, rubbing his chin while he considered his ideas. "What kind of job does she have at this resort?"

"Housekeeping. She doesn't care much for it, but she got her application for work in late, and those were the only jobs left."

Roxanne snorted, upper lip curling in a grimace. "I can't say I blame her. I had a job like that to escape from the war between my parents during one summer in college, at a resort up in Traverse Bay. Making beds, doing laundry, cleaning toilets — it's bad enough at home, and there are always people who leave the place in a total mess every single day, and expect the housekeepers to get everything clean enough to pass a military inspection in five minutes. They're the ones who don't believe in tipping, too. I don't imagine any of the workers really enjoy it, and they'd resent having her skip out and leaving them in the lurch."

"Understandable," the blue genius said with a startling grin. "But that's easily fixed. She says she doesn't want to dump extra work on the other housekeepers, and that's only fair, so we make sure she doesn't. Since we won't be here, there's no reason we couldn't take a few of the better housekeeping bots with us to act as her replacement. Not the Brain or Fluff and Fold; he's too temperamental, and they still need more experience."

Roxanne nodded as she folded up the modest swimming suit she'd decided to take and tucked it into a pocket of the suitcase. "I wouldn't suggest Pinky, either. She's fine for taking care of things here, but without one of us right there to keep her on task, she'd spend all her time organizing people's toiletries by size, use, scent, and color."

"She's pretty fanatical, that way," Megamind agreed, switching the swimsuit she'd just put in the bag for one he liked better when she'd turned to get something from the vanity. "We need ones who can work independently and reliably." He innocently concentrated on meticulously folding one of his shirts to draw attention away from his minor subterfuge when she turned back again. "Swiffer is good with things like sweeping and dusting, but he's terrible when it comes to washing dishes."

"They shouldn't need to deal with that," the reporter said with certainty. "Not unless it's a condo type resort with full kitchen facilities in each unit." She sent Minion a questioning look.

"I don't know for sure," he admitted. "I don't think so, but I can check, just to be sure. Do you really think we could do this? The owners of the resort might not care for having brainbots doing maid service."

Megamind waved the concern away with one hand as he went to the closet to fetch his favorite pair of black and silver Nikes, just in case they decided to go walking in the woods or something. Behind his back, Roxanne made her own switch, taking away one of his black t-shirts and swapping it for one in a green that she liked because it matched his eyes. She also made sure he had _her _favorite of his swimsuits in the bag. "If they don't care for it, I know ways that will _always_ change their minds," the ex-villain's voice came drifting back.

"Money speaks," his wife had to agree. "Though it might not be a huge problem if the resort's in Sister Bay. A lot of the locals and regulars there have already met the brainbots, and they liked 'em. Snuggle is pretty good at making beds and dealing with linens, and Scrubs will clean just about anything without supervision, even dishes. They're all well behaved, and three of them should be more than enough to fill in for one housekeeper for a few days. And they're all smaller bots, so taking 'em along wouldn't be a problem. They can fit in what passes for the back seat of my car."

Megamind was frowning as he returned from the closet with the shoes he wanted. "Are we driving the entire way, or using the Wayne Scott Express again?"

"Mr. Wayne did offer," Minion pointed out, in case they didn't know. "And since there isn't enough room in the Corvette for three, I was planning to go up on my hoverbike. Astrid has her own car, now, so she could drive for us, if she can get some free time."

"Won't that be a problem?" Roxanne wondered as she debated which nightie she should pack. Megamind plucked his favorite from among those she was considering and added it to the suitcase. She shook her head in mild exasperation, but let him have his way. She countered by doing the same with his nightclothes, to which he also submitted. "You don't exactly have a body that'll fit in most cars, you know."

"Not _this_ body," the gorilla-suited ichthyoid agreed. "But I was thinking of using my more human backup body for the trip. It doesn't have as much of a problem fitting into normal cars, and...well, it just blends in better. Astrid doesn't have a problem with this one, I used it when she visited last October and it didn't bother her. But around here, people are used to seeing it, and up there, they aren't."

"Are you afraid other people won't accept seeing you together, looking like this?" It was a very significant question to Megamind, given how his attempts to hide who he was from Roxanne and other people had almost ended in utter disaster.

Minion was honest. "A little. But I'm more concerned about being a five hundred pound gorilla in a china shop. A lot of the shops and restaurants up there are small, and in this body, I'd take up half the room just walking through the door. If we want to go out to eat or something, I want it to at least be an option, not impossible because of my size."

"A good point," the ex-villain approved. "You do need to be yourself and not hide behind a disguise, but literally fitting into places could be a real issue in small towns. The humanoid cybersuit would let you do both. At least _you_ can wear whatever you want in it and not risk passing out from the heat."

He sounded so utterly depressed by that reminder of his current problem, Roxanne relented and put his favorite black shirt into the suitcase. He noticed, and with an impish little smile put back the swimsuit she'd selected, though he didn't remove the racier one he personally preferred on her.

Minion had been watching the odd little game they were playing with more than amusement. "I'll have to make sure I pack some clothes, too," he reminded himself aloud. "I almost forgot, that body _really_ needs them, or it looks stranger than a robot gorilla. But first I'll give Astrid another call and see if she's okay with having Swiffer and Snuggle and Scrubs fill in for her at work. If she isn't, we might as well call the whole thing off."

It was his turn to sound depressed, and neither of his friends were having any of it. "Don't be silly," Roxanne chided gently. "Even if she or her employer don't go for it and you can only see her for a little while on one or two nights, wouldn't it still be worth the trip?"

Inside his habitat, Minion's entire small body tipped to one side, as if he were cocking his head in surprise at the question. "Yes, of course it would be. If nothing else, I want both of you to meet her. You only did once when we were there last year, and it was only for a minute. I'm surprised you even remembered her, sir."

Megamind's smile was crooked. "You talked about her enough when she wasn't there, how could I forget? She really made an impression on you, didn't she?"

Minion smiled back in much the same way. "Didn't I say the same thing about Mrs. Roxanne after you first met her?"

His ward conceded the point, even as the color in his cheeks deepened from lavender to purple. Roxanne chuckled. "Some girls just make great first impressions, even when they're concussed, delirious, half-naked, spattered with someone else's blood, and think they've just been rescued by a hammy actor who's been pretending to be an alien as a publicity stunt for the tourist trade."

The color traveled up to the tips of his ears. "What can I say, it was love at first sight, horrible as it happened to be. At least meeting Astrid wasn't quite so gruesome. Give her a call, Minion," he suggested as the blush subsided. "If she's willing to try, we can bring the bots and at least let them 'audition' for her employers. If they don't go for it, we'll just put them into hibernation for a week, or let them keep the house tidy."

The ichthyoid perked up. "Oh, that's a great idea, sir, I didn't even think of that! Let her and her bosses see how the brainbots can do the job, first! I'm sure she'll be okay with that, and I can ask her to tell me exactly what her job requires so I can make sure the bots all have the right programming and instructions... Oh, yes, wonderful idea, I'll just go call her now, she should still be on her lunch break..."

As he went off babbling down the hall once more, Roxanne chuckled and put her arms around her slender blue hero, who was bent over the suitcase, zipping shut some inner compartments. "You know, it's not hard to tell that the two of you came from the same planet, and that the whole lot of you are big bundles of emotional mush."

Megamind turned around as he straightened, abandoning the luggage for the time being, returning the embrace. "Now, why couldn't I have landed in the yard of someone like you, who appreciates the real me, and not in a prison?"

"Because then we probably would never have met, and I'd either have wound up dead in that alley or married to the idiot son of one of my dad's hunting or drinking buddies. Don't argue with destiny, sweetie. This was just meant to be."

He smirked. "I thought you weren't too sure about this whole destiny thing."

She smirked right back. "For myself, for humans — Earth humans, that is... eh, I have my doubts. We're so headstrong, we hate thinking anything can be predestined because we want all the credit for what we do — unless it's something we do _wrong,_ then we need to have someone or something else to blame. But with you, I've been seeing a lot of things lately that make me think that destiny _is_ possible, at least for some things in life, not everything. And I kinda like the idea that if you really _do _have something big ahead of you, I get to be a part of it. Maybe it's crazy, but I like feeling special, that way."

His smirk softened into loving adoration. "You don't need _my_ destiny to be special, Roxanne. Being special _is _your destiny."

Wise enough not to argue with such earnestly affectionate sincerity, Roxanne gave him the kiss he deserved, and more. The rest of the packing could wait.

* * *

><p>Astrid was more than willing to ask her employers if they would be amenable to at least auditioning the substitute helpers Minion and Megamind had offered for the coming week, and it turned out that her employers were very intrigued by the suggestion.<p>

Although they didn't want to deprive hard workers of jobs they needed, it was woefully true that being on the cleaning staff of a resort during the high season wasn't the kind of summer job many people wanted. The work was hard, occasionally disgusting, and the hours seemingly endless. It also was one of those positions in which tips were very much needed, and often ignored or stinted. The idea of robot workers who could assist the human staff was appealing to them, to help fill in during busy times and during the off-season when there was less business but fewer people available who wanted the job.

It hadn't occurred to either of the alien heroes that there might be a viable market for such things, but now that it was brought to his attention, Megamind could see the potential for it. He was willing to let Astrid's employers believe this was a field test he was attempting with a small number of prototypes, but he also had some misgivings. Certainly, the brainbots had proved their worth in many areas of Metro City, but most of what they did wasn't depriving anyone of a job, merely giving greater assistance in areas where the city was perennially understaffed due to budget constraints and simple human limitations. Moreover, the thought of selling brainbots as some sort of commodity disturbed him. They were more than artificial intelligence robots; they had that tiny bit of a living cellular core to them, which made them living creatures, in his mind. To bring them into being and then sell them to people who might neglect or abuse them was unthinkable.

Though now that the question had been raised, he was certain he could design a purely robotic version that could do such work quite handily. They wouldn't have the interestingly unique personalities of the true brainbots, but they could be programmed to emulate certain specific personality types amenable to whatever work they were designed to do, and—

Both Roxanne and Minion had had to drag the blue hero away from his unplanned side trip toward his labs and buckle him into the Corvette to get him to stop before he launched into the project right away. Though they hadn't planned to leave until the next morning, they decided it would be better to go now and get Megamind away from the path of temptation before it was too late.

Wayne grinned at the pouting genius belted into the passenger's seat when he arrived at Roxanne's summons, landing at the Lair's entrance with an amused, "Haven't we done this before?" referring to their send-off for vacation the year before. Since he was now officially on-duty, Wayne was in his heroic garb, which had been modified a bit since he'd given up his full time life as Metro Man. Mostly it had been toned down, a little less bright gold, and no fringe or giant M logo across his chest. Keeping the last, he felt, would have been inappropriate, now that he'd surrendered his station as the city's defender, and the new Big M wasn't him.

"He's really got it bad these days, doesn't he?" the part-time superhero said to the reporter as they returned from going inside to fetch their bags, rather than let Megamind out of the car again. In the cramped back of the Corvette — which was now parked outside, a short distance from the entrance to the Lair's garage — the three small housekeeping bots peered cautiously at their grumpy Daddy and exchanged their versions of perplexed glances and shrugs with one another. "This inventing and researching and building bug, I mean. Megs was always like that, even when we were kids in kindergarten, but now, it's almost like he can't shut it off."

"Sometimes," Roxanne admitted as they crossed the hot pavement. She was glad that the car windows were closed while the air conditioning was running and her husband was no doubt focused on his funk. "We always knew he was exceptionally smart, but I don't think even he really understood the extent of his own potential. Now, he's like someone unbelievably intelligent and incredibly curious and was born already asking questions and looking for answers, but there was nobody around who even _understood_ the questions, so what he could do to satisfy his curiosity was limited. Now, he's getting all the answers he ever wanted and more, and he's so eager and impatient to see what comes next that when he finds answers for questions he didn't know he had, he wants to go and test it to be sure, and that leads to more questions..."

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "Oh, don't get me wrong, Wayne, it's amazing, all of it, but somebody has to watch out for him and put on the brakes once in a while, 'cause he won't notice he needs to until he's almost burned out, between all that _and_ his hero work. They sort of feed off one another. He knows this, and he'll get over it quick enough. I'll make sure he has plenty of other distractions while we're gone so he won't even miss it."

Wayne's grin turned wistful. "I think you're all the distraction he needs, Rox—anne. Sorry," he added sheepishly. "I'll get used to not using the nickname, I promise."

She elbowed him playfully, and carefully. Nothing like bruising yourself by elbowing a brick wall to put a damper on a vacation. "Sure, like you got used to not calling Mykaal by your assorted nicknames for him. Don't worry, Wayne, I know you're trying. I can't expect you to be a super and a musician _and _have a good memory, now, can I?"

They both chuckled at her little joke, and by the time they reached the car, Megamind's snit had passed. He rolled down the window, letting out a wave of blessedly cool air into the blistering afternoon heat, and beamed impishly at his former rival. "Nice new outfit, Zan," he said by way of a greeting, causing the big lug to wince.

"Now I know how you feel about me messing up your real name half the time," Wayne grunted as he helped Roxanne stash their bags in the small trunk and behind the passenger seats. "How do I know for sure you're not just trying to get even with me and making up this 'Zan' bit?"

"Just ask Roxanne," was the breezily smug reply. "She used the Teacher and learned everything I did about our planets and our parents and what happened to them. It's not my fault that you're afraid to."

"I'm _not _afraid," Wayne insisted. "Just... kinda not sure. I didn't have any of your memories about where we came from and how we got here, and since I was lucky enough to get adopted by a more or less regular family, it feels like I'd be betraying them, at least while Mom's still alive."

Megamind shrugged. "Suit yourself, the offer's still open to use it, if you ever change your mind. Did Minion ask you to fly him up, too?"

"Nah, he wants to fly up himself in the morning, give you two lovebirds the rest of the day alone. Do you want me to drop you off right at the house or somewhere else, since it doesn't matter if I'm spotted, anymore?"

"The house," Roxanne replied as she climbed into the driver's seat. "I want him to take a nap before dinner while I do the unpacking. Doctor's orders," she told her husband when he was about to protest. "It's been less than six hours since you passed out from the heat. I know you bounce back from these things pretty quickly, but for the first day, I want you to follow the doctor's instructions to the letter. If you don't, I'm going to tell the Mayor you need to take six weeks to recover, and we'll spend it all up there, away from your labs and your workshops and the Teacher. Got it?"

He pouted again, knowing she would do exactly as threatened. "Got it," he sighed, then brightened. "Actually, that wouldn't be so terrible, give everything already in my head a chance to _really _settle in before going back to _'shkool.'"_

Wayne suddenly looked panicked. "Are you serious? I mean, if that's what you really want to do, of course I'll fill in for you, but I have a recording session and a concert gig in about a month..."

Megamind returned with a very serious "of _course _I really want to do this" look that lasted for all of perhaps five seconds before he burst into laughter. "Ah, Wayne, if I knew it could be _this _easy to mess with your head, I would've given up villainy a long, long time ago! Six weeks away from home would be a bit too much, even for me."

"Though it may wind up being more than a week if the heat doesn't break or at least ease up," Roxanne said, and she was dead serious. Though this was fine with Wayne since he'd agreed to help guard the city until the hot spell ended, it panicked Megamind.

"Really? How much more than a week? I didn't pack for that long a stay, and I know we can wash clothes and things, but—"

His wife fixed him with a stern eye for a moment before relaxing into a smile. "Don't worry, if we have to stay away for longer than a week, we can have Wayne bring some of your mad scientist things to keep you happy. Honestly, I know how important that Teacher gizmo is to you, but you're starting to act a little like a junkie, hon."

Megamind flushed a brilliant fuchsia. He stammered for a bit before swallowing enough to get his voice working properly again. "I... guess I have been, haven't I? But it _is _kind of addicting, in a way. For so many years to know nothing, and then to _finally _have a source for answers...! So, the time away to get me better from the thermal shock is also a ploy to get me away to find some perspective, huh?"

She patted his forearm, which was bare blue skin, since along with rest and staying out of the sun and the heat, the doctor had recommended he do without long sleeves for a while and let his body's natural temperature control do what it had been designed to do. "Exactly, and that's why we might take more than a week. Let's face it, a month of living in this sauna has been awful, in a lot of ways. Why not use the excuse to actually take a break instead of just talking about doing it?"

"And complaining about the weather, which we can't do anything about — but maybe we _could, _if I—" He saw the storm clouds of a scowl beginning to gather on his wife's lovely brow and derailed his own line of thought before she did it for him. "—didn't try to do anything about it right now. Okay, you have a point, I'm letting myself get pretty badly carried away. Time to slow down."

The storm dissipated. "You got it. Don't worry, sweetie, this isn't an intervention, not like last year. I'll make the time away worth it, I promise."

He perked up. "Can we try playing miniature gulf again? I _know _you and Minion were both cheating, last time."

"Golf, not gulf, and we didn't cheat. You were just overthinking things with force and trajectory and all that. But sure, if we go in the evening and the mosquitoes aren't out to eat us alive. That might be something fun to do with Minion and Astrid. Speaking of whom, isn't Minion coming to say goodbye?"

Wayne, who was leaning against the car, trying not to grin as he listened to the couple inside it, spoke up. "He should be, he told me he had a bag of his stuff he wanted to send with you. Unless it was one of those we just brought over..."

"No, it wasn't. Maybe we should go—"

"Wait, wait, don't leave yet!" came the call from the direction of the concealed entrance, accompanied by the sound of running feet. Minion came rushing out through the holographic "wall" a moment later, a duffel bag in one hand and a beverage jug in the other. He had switched from his gorilla body into the humanoid one about an hour earlier, since transferring was much easier if he didn't have to do it alone. "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you didn't go without more of the electrolyte drink the doctor said Sir should have today. It's not much cooler up at the lake house today, and the place will probably be pretty warm until the AC gets up to speed."

Megamind frowned as Minion passed him the jug through the window and tossed Wayne the duffel to be added to the stuff behind the driver's seat. "It took this long just to mix up some _gooterade_ or whatever it's called?"

"No, sir," the ichthyoid replied affably. "I wanted to go put on some clothes before Mr. Wayne got here. It's funny, but I spent so long in this body before we rebuilt my main one, it feels strange to be seen in it, undressed." He flittered his fins in an embarrassed reaction to the memory of being in it earlier, unclad and in front of Roxanne, who had helped him make the transfer while Megamind gave instructions to the household bots to make sure they behaved during their absence.

She smiled consolingly. "It's okay, Minion, I didn't look any more than I had to. You _are _like the brother I never had, after all."

He heaved a sigh of relief that sent a flurry of bubbles through his habitat. "Thank you, Mrs. Roxanne, and you're like one of the sisters I had but don't remember."

Wayne groaned at all the familial sappiness. "Oooookay, can we get this show on the road?" he asked, the duffel now securely put away. "I have a patrol to do and dinner to eat before a practice session with my band tonight, and I don't want to be late."

Megamind snorted. "You can move fast enough to make time seem to stand still, Zan. You're only late when you _want_ to be."

"Or when I get called away to help rescue some idiot who thinks the middle of a heat wave is a good time to have an illegal indoor barbecue in his ninety-second floor Metro Tower apartment with sealed windows."

Now, the blue hero laughed. "Yes, the heat seems to really bring out the more... ah... _foolish_ side of Metrocity. But at least they aren't calling you in to open pickle jars, anymore — or are they?"

Wayne couldn't help but smile, though wryly. "Oh, never again, little buddy. After I mentioned that in my coming-clean interview back in November, I did get a few letters of apology from people who finally realized what ridiculous things they'd been asking me to do, all those years. Better late than never, I guess. Is everything ready, then?"

A round of traded glances, nods, and shrugs confirmed it. "I didn't quite finish with the added programming for those three," Minion said, indicating the three bots in the back of the car. "But I'll have it done in about an hour, and send it up to the computer at the lake house. It won't be difficult work," he assured Roxanne when she appeared concerned. "All Sir needs to do is order the bots to link to the computer, and then execute the program additions. It'll take all of a minute and a few keystrokes to start, and the rest will finish on its own. Nothing strenuous, I promise."

The ex-villain's green eyes rolled extravagantly. "I'm not an invalid, you know," he almost whined. "And I've already promised to behave myself."

Wayne laughed. "Hey, take the pampering when you can get it," he suggested. "I would've loved people like these two in my life, it would've made the hero gig a lot easier to take. Okay, so if everything's set, let's head off."

"Just go easier on the acceleration this time," Roxanne warned him. "I didn't have a chance to install barf bags yet."

Minion stood back as Wayne bent to pick up the car. "I'll be there tomorrow morning, bright and early," he promised, waving to his friends. "Just don't take the bots over to give their demonstration without me, okay?"

Megamind's smile was mischievously wry. "What, and spoil your chance to show off for your girlfriend?"

The fish spluttered vigorously. "She's _not_ my girlfriend...!"

His partner was studiously unimpressed by the protest. "Oh, right, I forgot, your _potential _girlfriend. Don't worry, Minion, I wouldn't dream of doing it without you. You're the one who's working on the alterations to their programming, so you should be there to reap the glory — and take the blame, if they manage to mess up."

Roxanne gave him a gentle swat, but Minion was more comfortable with this kind of banter. "Oh, of course, sir! And if Snuggle accidentally shreds the sheets and towels during their audition, I'll make sure the resort owners know who decided it was a good idea to design household brainbots with bear traps for jaws."

Megamind blew him a huge raspberry before rolling up his window in feigned huffy dismissal. Minion laughed, waved goodbye, and watched Wayne fly the car off to the northwest, moving swiftly but taking care not to discomfit those within.

When they were gone from sight, the fish stood there for a moment or two more, then headed back in to one of the workshops, to finish not only the programming job — which he was certainly better qualified to do than his ward, given who had always done the domestic work around the Evil Lair — but also a little surprise. He thought that maybe it was a mite early in their friendship to be doing something like this, but he had a feeling Astrid would love it. He hoped.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	3. Meet the Brainbots

_Author's Note: I had initially planned for this to be a single long chapter, but decided to split it into two shorter ones, to keep the mood and tone of each a bit separate. So there will be another chapter coming along later today. As always, my humble thanks to all my readers and reviewers. And to answer a question brought up by Phenixia Sama: Before I began writing this story and finished the previous one, I'd put in a lot of thought about the backstory for Megamind and Minion's origins, down to devising some bits and pieces of things like languages and naming conventions (I've studied a number of other languages, have a fascination with linguistics and etymology, and have invented three full languages that I've used in my science fiction and fantasy writings). Although I chose Minion's name based primarily on what sounds might be most common for a language used in an underwater environment, I was indeed aware of the Japanese meanings for Tori and Ootori. Minion may be a fish, but since he wound up flying farther than any other of his kind, I liked the symbology connected with "bird," so I used it. :) Now, on with the story!_

* * *

><p>Part the Third<br>Meet the Brainbots

As late morning and early afternoon were the busiest times for the housekeeping staff at the Whispering Woods Resort, Minion made arrangements with Astrid and her employers to hold the brainbots' "audition" later in the afternoon, before supper. By then, the housekeeping staff would be finished with housekeeping in most of the units, and would be busy doing laundry, taking care of the needs of the settled-in guests, and preparing what few units were still empty for the new guests who would come the next day. So the "demonstration," as Megamind suggested it be called, was set for four o'clock, barring some emergency that would require the owners to be elsewhere.

Minion had arrived that morning, bright but not exactly early. He knew what his two friends could be like on mornings when they had a chance to sleep in, especially when there was no possibility of their jobs calling them away. The "sleeping in" could last until almost noon, usually because it was combined with some kind of amorous activity. Regardless of which happened, Minion didn't want to interrupt them. He arrived not long before noon, and found his friends awake and out of bed but still indoors, to stay out of the heat and sun.

From the sound of voices and music playing, he could tell they were on the lowest floor of the four-story house, in the large room with the beautiful indoor pool that was surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows which looked out across a flagstone patio to a well-groomed, grassy hillside and the blue waters of the lake beyond. The pool had recently been filled with clean, blessedly cool water, and Roxanne had scooted out before the day had grown too hot to find a simple breakfast, since they were far from the land of fast food and doughnut shops, and the pantry was currently bare of most supplies.

"Do you think you can come up with a brainbot capable of doing grocery shopping on its own?" Roxanne wondered from where she was lounging at the pool's edge, with her feet dangling in the water, sipping orange juice between nibbles of a slice of the cinnamon-raisin bread she'd gotten from one of the local bakeries that opened not long after dawn. "It's a pain to do in lousy weather, and think I might have a few names that would be nice..."

Megamind was at the center of the water, using a black inflatable pool lounger to stay afloat without effort. It wasn't quite as nice as being out in the cool waters of the lake, but it kept him out of the sun and comfortable, which was what the doctor ordered, so he couldn't complain. "Sure, if you don't send them to pick up anything fresh. They can read labels on boxes and cans and bags and bottles, but they couldn't tell ripe fruit from green, or fresh meat from rotten. Giving them olfactory and tactile sensors wouldn't be hard, but teaching them the kind of judgment to pick good over bad, that could be a lot of work. You want to do it?"

"Ah... On second thought, no. Bringing one or two along to carry the bags would be good enough. Hi, Minion, did you have a nice flight up?"

There was a hint of relief in the piscine's smile as he fully entered the large room. When he'd heard his friends' voices coming from the pool area, he'd been half afraid that they might be skinny dipping in the privacy of their own home. Not that either of them were over-dressed; Roxanne was happier wearing the skimpy blue and black bikini that Megamind liked where the sun wouldn't peel off her skin, and Megamind, slender though he was, had always had a preference for skin-tight speedos rather than loose trunks (also in blue and black, of course). Minion wasn't a prude, but he'd had one too many close encounters of the embarrassing kind with the couple during their most intimate moments, and those experiences were ones he would prefer not to repeat. If they wore a certain minimum amount of clothing — even if it was little more than scraps of strategically-placed cloth — when in his presence, it did wonders for his comfort level.

"Yes, Mrs. Roxanne, very nice," he said cheerfully. "Once I got away from the city, that is. The smog isn't as bad as it used to be, thanks to Sir's inventions to reduce emissions from the local heavy industries, but people haven't been as quick to get them installed on their cars, so when the weather's hot and humid for as long as it's been, you can still cut the air with a knife. I needed to stop and wipe some of the grime off my dome, once I was well out over the lake."

"They'll get around to it soon," Megamind remarked, idly waving at his old guardian in greeting. "The new governor wants to make the state a shining example of how even big cities and major industry can exist without pollution of _any_ kind. Not all that difficult to implement, actually, with the right technology, but getting people to actually _use _it can be a problem, unless they make it mandatory. Their problem, not mine, of course. I've provided the blueprints for the technology, and it's not hideously expensive to produce. It's up to the politicians to convince the citizens to use it, and the governor's quite determined to make it happen."

Roxanne sniffed. "After this summer, I have a feeling it won't be as hard to sell. So, is everything set up with Astrid's bosses and the brainbots for their demonstration?"

Minion nodded. "We should have them there by four, and we'll see how everything works out. Did the added programming transfer correctly?"

"Yes, and I even behaved myself," Megamind said smugly. "Did exactly what you said I should do and nothing more, not even a quick surf of the Internet."

His wife snickered. "That's because you were starving and wanted to go out for dinner while the bots were updating, and then were ready for bed by the time we got home. You should know from last summer that the way your body likes to handle getting hammered by excess heat is to sleep it off."

He groaned expansively. "I know, I know. At least this time, it's not full blown hyperthermia, and I don't feel like spending an entire week sleeping! Do you need a hand settling into the boathouse, Minion?"

"Nope, already done," the ichthyoid assured him. "I just came to tell you the time for the 'demonstration.'" I also wanted to check the bots to make sure I covered everything they'll need to do, and then I have a few things I want to work on before we head over."

"Anything you need help with?"

"Not from you, sir," the fish replied cheekily, grinning.

Roxanne laughed. "That's telling him, Minion! He's here to rest and relax, not—_urph__!"_

A sudden gush of water hit her squarely in the face. She wiped the water from her eyes to see where the hit had come from. Out in the middle of the pool, Megamind was nonchalantly holding a not-large but nonetheless formidable-looking water pistol. "You little sneak!" she protested, half-laughing, more surprised than irritated. "Where did _that _come from?"

"Security precautions," was the droll answer. "A superhero has to be prepared for an attack at all times."

"_What _attack? I didn't even move...!"

Megamind flapped the hand without the water gun in an airy, dismissive wave. "Ah, but you're a journalist, my love, and you of all people should know how dangerous an attack from the media can be!"

Roxanne knew he was teasing, and her expression turned to one of wicked amusement as she started to rise. "Is that so? Well then, Mr. Superhero, get ready for a real attack from the media!" And with that, she cannonballed into the pool, setting up a huge wave that both splashed the blue genius and knocked him off his floating lounge. His shriek of startled protest was very short-lived as he went under, only to resurface a few strokes away, water gun quickly up and firing. Roxanne splashed back, and amid their various battle cries and threats there was a lot of laughter.

Minion grinned to see them in such good spirits, their battle hard-fought but completely in fun. He knew it wouldn't be long before one of them surrendered or they called a truce, and as he figured they'd be wanting a little privacy for the negotiations as much as he didn't want his ward getting involved in his unfinished project, he took the opportunity to make a quiet exit.

* * *

><p>Four o'clock came much more quickly than any of them had expected, Megamind and Roxanne because they had indeed enjoyed the aftermath of their little water war, especially the drawing up of the truce, and Minion because he had been working very hard on his surprise for Astrid, which was still not quite ready. He was very good with the mechanical end of helping Megamind's inventions become realities, but many of the extremely high-tech aspects were more difficult for him to do alone, some quite impossible. He didn't resent it, since he knew that his ward's gifts were truly that, gifts of a phenomenal degree, but he also hoped he could finish this without Mykaal's help. He very much wanted this to be something entirely from him. It would likely take a day or two more to complete, but so long as it was done before it was time for him to head home, that would be good enough.<p>

Astrid was waiting for them at the entrance to the Whispering Woods Resort, which, true to its name, was set in a wooded area slightly inland rather than on the shore of the lake. It was a large place and very busy, which was clearly why they needed all the help they could get. Compared to the areas around both the indoor and outdoor pools and recreation areas, the lobby was quiet, and Astrid appeared grateful for the respite from the noise and bustle as she greeted them.

The young woman suited only half the common perception of Scandinavian women as universally tall and blonde. She was indeed blonde, but not tall. She was about the same height as both Roxanne and Megamind, even a bit shorter, not quite as slender as the blue hero but not as curvaceous as the brunette reporter. Her hazel eyes leaned more toward brown than greenish, and were large and bright in her rather pixieish triangular face. She was dressed casually but neatly, as the housekeeping staff wasn't required to wear any uniform beyond their ID badges, and she also wore a ready smile for the trio that was refreshingly genuine, not at all the look of someone merely happy to be greeting celebrities.

"I'm so pleased to actually meet you," she said in a warm mezzo after the greetings and introductions had been properly exchanged. She had a definite accent but not a strong one, as she had both a quick ear and a fair amount of time spent going to school and working in the States. "The one time we met last summer was very brief, and though Tori's told me a lot about you, it's not the same as personal contact."

"Never judge a book by its cover," Roxanne quoted with a smile as she took her turn shaking the young woman's hand. She cast a quick sidelong glance at her husband, whose own smile was crooked.

"Even when the book is wearing the wrong cover," Megamind quipped back, though his own smile was, for the most part, earnest. The part that wasn't was a bit discomfited by the looks he was getting from some of the resort's guests, in the lobby lounge or passing by on their ways to the pool or the game rooms or the parking lot. Roxanne had exerted her not-so-gentle persuasion to convince him to wear cooler clothing today — a reasonable suggestion, as the heat was still blistering and the humidity high enough to steam-cook vegetables still growing in the fields — but with no disguise and so much of his blue skin exposed, he couldn't help but be noticed, even more than Minion, whose humanoid robot body was mostly covered by ordinary jeans and a summer weight long-sleeved shirt. Fortunately, the looks were all excited or pleasant ones, but he had a feeling they wouldn't escape the place before giving in to at least a few people seeking autographs and pictures.

Astrid chuckled, a charmingly merry sound. "Yes, Tori's told me you have experience in that area. It's a wise thing to learn, I think. The Hansens would like for us to meet them in unit 168. The last occupants left it this morning, and the next will arrive tomorrow afternoon, so we've left it for your little helpers to prepare. Are they waiting outside?"

"In my car," Roxanne confirmed. "Minion could hardly bring them on his hoverbike, and we thought it would be best to make sure they don't get excited before their... demonstration."

Astrid's eyes widened. "Will that be a problem? If being around people excites them too much, this mightn't work out at all..."

She was genuinely concerned, but Megamind dismissed it before Minion could. "No, no, that won't be a problem," he assured her. "They adapt to their surroundings very quickly, actually, but they should meet the people who will be in charge of them first, so they know who to go to if there are problems, and whose orders they're supposed to be following. They're in a rather suggestible state at the moment, due to their new programming, and if they meet a lot of curious guests first, they may get confused. It's better not to take the risk."

"That's right," Minion chimed in, while Megamind was given a gentle but pointed elbow in the ribs from his wife. When he frowned at Roxanne, wondering why the abuse, she nodded to the fish, who was beaming at Astrid, obviously looking for a reason to try to impress her in his unimpressive way. "I didn't want there to be any problems with that when I gave them their new temporary instructions, so I had them reset to a temporary version of their initial state, where they can sort of impress on new people and recognize them as their 'boss.' They'll always defer to us, of course, but this way, they'll also obey directions from new people we introduce them to. Which we could do by accident if they meet too many other people before they meet the Hansens."

Astrid nodded, seeing the logic of it, and approving of Minion's part in it with a brighter smile. "Then let me tell the Hansens you're here, and I'll show you to the unit your little helpers can work on."

As she went to the front desk and office just down the main hall, Megamind sidled up to his piscine partner. "Sorry, Minion, I should've let you tell her all that," he said quietly. "She's your friend, after all..."

"Oh, no, sir, it's okay!" the ichthyoid hastened to assure him. "To tell you the truth, I was afraid I'd sound like I was bragging if I said too much. You invented the brainbots, I just did some adjustments to their domestic skills programs. Astrid understood, that's all that really matters. She's a nice person, isn't she?" From the look on his face, Minion desperately wanted his friends to agree.

"Very nice, so far," was Roxanne's opinion. "She reminds me of someone I've seen before, but I can't quite place it..."

"The woman in that odd movie about a deranged hyperthyroid case who thinks he's a magical dwarf from the North Pole," Megamind provided. "One of your competitors ran it at least three times last week during their 'Christmas in July' marathon."

"That's it. Don't recall the actress's name, though. She's cute, Minion, and I think it's kind of obvious that she likes you. I really hope this works out for you."

Minion sighed as he rolled his amber eyes. "Even if we just stay good friends via email, I'll be happy. I'm a fish, Mrs. Roxanne, and an alien fish at that. I'm not looking for... well, what you and Sir have. I have aspirations, of course, but I'm not crazy."

One corner of Megamind's mouth quirked into an impishly amused smile as he draped one arm across his wife's shoulders. "Hmm, yes, I had 'aspirations,' too, and just look where they ended!"

The piscine's harrumph sent a flurry of tiny bubbles through his habitat. "Uh-huh, and you _know _people have called you crazy, sir."

While the ex-villain spluttered an inarticulate protest, Roxanne gave her ersatz brother-in-law a gesture of approval, even as she gave her spouse a comforting kiss on the cheek. In a lounge just off the lobby, a group of three young teenaged girls who had been surreptitiously watching the celebrities giggled and whispered among themselves, at what exactly was unclear. Astrid chose that fortunate moment to return and lead them off, leaving the giggling girls to their own merry speculations.

* * *

><p>The Hansens were a pleasant middle-aged couple, friendly yet professional, intrigued by the trio of brainbots as well as those who had brought them, but also curious to see if they would perform acceptably.<p>

Swiffer and Scrubs went right to work after Daddy had introduced the Hansens as their "supervisors" for the next week, and made it clear that while they could accept direction from others as well, if it conflicted with their new "job" programming, they were to clear any actions with the couple before performing the requested tasks. The units were all apartment-like condos of various sizes, in several different layouts, but the maid's equipment and supplies were stored in central locations on each floor. Their temporary "bosses" showed them where these things were kept, but deliberately neglected to indicate where the linens were stored and laundered.

Confused by this lack of direction — since his job was to make beds and trade dirtied towels for clean — Snuggle watched his brothers take off to show how well they could perform while he was left feeling uncertain. Nervous, the little bot hung there for a few moments, distraught, then went to strip the beds and collect the dirty towels. He had that done in record time, the soiled linens all put in the rolling hamper out in the hall, but without fresh ones to replace them, the job was left undone.

Finally, after another few moments of anxious hesitation, he went to the Hansens in search of help. Gingerly, he tapped on Mrs. Hansen's arm to get her attention, then let out a little bowg that was both pitiful and querulous. Struggling to keep a straight face, she asked him what the problem was, and he pantomimed folding laundry and tucking sheets, then shrugged two of his three tendril arms in a very clear request of "where?"

"Smart little thing," Mr. Hansen said when the happy little bot had been shown where to find clean linens and was now cheerfully going about his tasks. "We've had staff who ran out of towels or sheets and just didn't want to walk back to the supply closets, so they left the dirty sheets on the bed even when they were scheduled to be changed, and shorted the guests on towels. People can see dirt on surfaces and carpets when it hasn't been cleaned off, but sometimes with fabric, it's not so obvious. Would you mind if we had them clean another unit, just to see how they work completely on their own?"

Of course they didn't, since Megamind was always happy to show off the capabilities of his inventions, and Minion was feeling rather proud of himself and the job he'd done with the added programming. Astrid had sent him, at his request, a map of the layout for the entire resort; with that included in their programming, the bots were able to find the specified unit without any problem. With the passkey Snuggle had been given — Mrs. Hansen's choice, and the bots had been given very strict orders to obey the owners in such matters and not subject them to brainbot squabbling — they went directly to it, Swiffer and Scrubs toting in the maid's cart while Snuggle went off to fetch new linens after opening the main door.

The whole "audition" was a complete success, and the Hansens were ready to sign on the trio not only for the week but for the rest of the summer. The bots were thrilled by the approval of their "foster parents," and once the appropriate emergency instructions and contact numbers had been given — just in case; experiences with the brainbots at large in Metro City had taught Megamind that it was wise for people in charge to have such things, for their own peace of mind if nothing else — Astrid was free to take the rest of the week off.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	4. Iced Tea and Sympathy

_Author's Note: And as promised, chapter four! There will most likely be two left to go after this, so, onward!_

* * *

><p>Part the Fourth<br>Iced Tea and Sympathy

"It was good of the Hansens to let you have the time off," Roxanne remarked over supper, which they opted to have at a tiny but excellent Italian restaurant in what passed as the village's downtown. Even with the brainbot audition, they were out ahead of the usual evening diners, so they didn't have to fight for a table in the small air conditioned interior rather than out on the still sweltering patio. "Are you sure you won't need a place to stay for the week? We certainly have plenty of room in our house."

The blonde smiled. "Quite sure, but thank you for asking, Mrs. Thejhan. When I was hired, I could've chosen to have a part of my wages pay for a staff room at the resort, but I preferred to rent a place of my own, away from the job. When the work is stressful, one needs a refuge, yes?"

"Oh, yes," Megamind was first to agree, quite enthusiastically. "Of course, I didn't really understand that until almost a year ago, but better late than never. You seem rather young to be so wise, Miss Kjørsvik."

"Astrid, please," she corrected, though she was clearly pleased by the politeness. "And I am not so young as I look, Mr. Thejhan. I came from a farm family and was needed at home for a time when others my age would have gone to university. My mother fell sick and my father needed help, caring for her and maintaining our dairy farm. My two brothers and I did all we could until she was completely well again, but it took several years. They were most difficult, and I was grateful whenever I could get even a short time to spend with friends, away from the stresses at home. But it was time well spent. My mother is strong again, and I was able to keep up with my schooling at home so that I was able to win a scholarship to study abroad, when the time came. That was all some years ago, and now, I'm in the post-graduate doctoral studies program. So though I look to be a girl, I will be thirty-one, in a little less than a month."

"Then happy early birthday," Roxanne congratulated, saluting the blonde with her glass of wine. "You've had a very full life, it seems. How did you ever get interested in studying something as obscure as limnology? I have to confess, I had no idea what it was when Minion — Tori — first mentioned it to us, I had to look it up."

Astrid laughed brightly. "Yes, most people have that reaction, even very intelligent people like you. But the study of freshwater and its ecology is vital to life on the planet..."

She went on to explain her field and why it had captured her interest so strongly. There were many excellent and noble reasons for it, but in the end, she shyly admitted to one in particular. "When I _was_ a girl — not little, but still a girl — I saw a picture of all of you in a magazine. I was so surprised when I realized that the big robot was actually a prosthetic body for a fish! That fascinated me, because I've always found many fish to be beautiful, but I never thought they could be so intelligent. Tori has told me all the things you have learned about his people, and how they had developed an entire civilization in the fresh waters of your world even before they first became acquainted with the people who lived on the land. If I hadn't already been interested in limnology, I would be now! Since we have no fish like his kind in our waters to be their protectors, we humans must fight for that cause here on Earth, yes?"

From the way both Roxanne and Megamind were smiling by the time Astrid finished her explanations, the water in Minion's habitat was in danger of heating up from the energy of his blush alone. "Yes, definitely," his ward agreed most affably. "So Minion was your inspiration even before you first met." It was a statement, not a question.

Astrid nodded, nonetheless. "He was. But I never quite understood why either of you would want to be villains — until he explained it to me," she added with a smile for the blushing fish whose robotic hands were fidgeting with his napkin. "I think you've both done very well, now, considering how difficult your life has been from the start."

"My feelings exactly," Roxanne said with her own smile for her reformed spouse, whose cheeks were flushing at all the feminine praise and approval. "Okay, who's up for dessert?" she amended, changing the subject to spare the two aliens further embarrassment.

* * *

><p>The rest of the evening went quite well. It was still too warm and steamy to think of outdoor activities, and it had been a long day of work for Astrid, so they invited her back to the lake house for a little while, to talk and become better acquainted. Before nine o'clock rolled around, just after they'd watched a beautiful sunset from the comfortable vantage of the great room with its wall of windows looking west, out over Green Bay, Megamind nodded off, slumping against Roxanne where the couple had been sitting together on the largest couch around the large central coffee table, sipping iced tea and discussing the possibility of renting a boat one day, to take a cruise out on the cool waters of the lake. Fortunately, he wasn't a snorer, but there was no mistaking the closed eyes, slack jaw, and steady soft whistles of breath as coming from anything but someone deeply asleep.<p>

"It's not that he finds you boring," Roxanne explained to Astrid as Minion gently collected his out-like-a-light partner and carried him up to the bedroom, leaving the reporter to keep their guest company until he returned. It was simply easier for him to do it than for her to try to persuade the exhausted blue hero to wake up enough to get ready to go to sleep in a proper bed. "He doesn't deal well with extremes of temperature, and while he has ways to manage the cold in winter, he doesn't have anything to effectively handle this kind of high heat and humidity, not for more than a day or two. He just wilts if he's not careful, and he flat-out fainted from it yesterday morning."

"I understand the feeling," the blonde said most sympathetically. "My family's farm is in the Ørland region of Norway, and we seldom see heat of this kind outside an oven! The first summer I came to work here, I thought I might die from the weather, and it wasn't this hot that year, nor was my job so strenuous. Your husband's work can be _very _hard."

Roxanne sighed. "It can be, but not as hard as getting him to admit that he has to be careful when the heat gets this brutal. His head can be as thick as it's big, sometimes."

"To be so stubborn, one must also be strong," Astrid observed so earnestly, the older woman was truly surprised.

"Mykaal was right," Roxanne said with a small smile. "You _are _a very wise young woman. And you're right, he _is _strong, much stronger than he looks. He's come through far worse than this — but I can't help but worry that someday, he'll come up against something or someone stronger than him that he can't outsmart."

Astrid sighed even as she nodded. "Tori has the same worries about him, if not for quite the same reason. It's in their natures, I think, one always wishing to reach a little bit farther, the other always wishing to stand fast and protect."

"And to ask them to do otherwise would be asking them to deny who they are. Oh, I do understand that! I just hope that eventually, they find ways to be themselves without constantly putting themselves in danger."

"That would be nice." For a few moments, Astrid was silent, toying with a bracelet she was wearing, fingering the round blue stones as if they were some kind of prayer beads. Finally, she spoke what was on her mind, quietly. "I have come to care for Tori a great deal, Mrs. Thejhan, but I worry sometimes that the work we've talked of doing together, of being protectors of the waters for this world, might never happen because of the work he's doing now."

The reporter's eyes widened. "You've talked about working together? You and Minion — I mean, Tori?"

Astrid blinked back. "Hasn't he?" She appeared concerned by this apparent omission on Minion's part.

Roxanne tried to be reassuring, not wanting the blonde to think the ichthyoid was too ashamed to speak of her. "Not in so many words, but we suspected _something_. He can be very secretive about some things — part of that protective nature of his, I suppose, and all those years of working with Megamind. Ever since Mykaal and I were married, he's been hinting that he wants to make something more of his life, something all his own, but if he had anything specific in mind, I'm not aware of it. He might've been more open about it with Mykaal, since they've been close practically forever, but I have a feeling he hasn't told him much, either. Is _that_ what _you're_ looking for, a professional relationship?"

She was startled by how suddenly Astrid blushed; she could easily give Megamind competition in the time from pale to full facial redness (or purpleness) race. "I'd like that, yes, but not _just _that," she admitted shyly, her voice almost a whisper. "I'm very fond of Tori, and... I don't know what we could be to each other without causing... problems."

"Oh, I can relate to that!" Roxanne said sympathetically, reaching across the low table to pat the young woman's hand. "At least the alien I fell for is pretty much human, other than being blue, big-headed, and with a brain constantly in hyperdrive."

She paused, thinking hard. "Look, I don't know how much I should tell you, Astrid. I hate gossips and people who can't keep private information to themselves. But it might help if you knew that Minion's been feeling pretty much the same way about you and the future. He doesn't want to hurt you, or have you be hurt by people with narrow minds. But he's very fond of you, too, and I think that maybe if you just start by being good friends together, you'll find a way to make the kind of a future you both want and that you're both comfortable with living."

The blonde's smile was small, but grateful. "It's kind of you to tell me this. If he could be a human or I a fish — of his kind, intelligent — I don't think there would be any problem at all. But that isn't possible, so we must settle for what _is _possible, here, in this world."

"That's always the big trick," Roxanne agreed with a heavy sigh, leaning back into the softly cushions of the couch. "I don't suppose you had your heart set on having children..."

Astrid chuckled at the dry way she said it. "Was that an issue for you?"

One corner of the reporter's lips twitched up in a wry smile. "Actually, no. It turns out that neither of us had had a great family life — not here on Earth, anyway — so we both became very focused on our careers. That could change someday, but I don't think it will. I enjoy our life the way it is now, and especially the way it's been growing and changing ever since Mykaal—"

She stopped, rethinking what she'd been about to say. "Well, I don't know how much Minion's told you about that, and it's really not my place to fill you in, not without Mykaal's permission."

The younger woman nodded. "Tori has told me a little, some things that Mr. Thejhan discovered about the world they came from, like his true name. I think he's actually been very circumspect, and I haven't pressed for anything more. And about children... I wanted to have a family of my own once, yes, but before my mother fell ill, I was sick myself, an acute abdominal sepsis which led to an inflammatory disease that left me sterile, so the option of having children of my own is no longer possible. Ever since I met Tori and we began discussing the possibilities of protecting the waters of the whole world, that seems so much less important. To be able to share my life and my work with someone dear to me would be enough, I think. Certainly better than pining for something I cannot have as I'd once hoped to."

"It can be more than enough, with the right person," Roxanne said, knowing it well from first-hand experience. "I suspect Minion hasn't said anything about it to you, but one of the things Mykaal recently discovered was that the emotions of everyone from their planet are naturally powerful, and play a very important part in their lives. He doesn't know why it is that way yet, but there's no doubt that it is, for both his people and Minion's."

Astrid's brow creased in a confused frown. "But isn't that the same here? Humans are driven by their feelings, too..."

Roxanne wasn't sure she could explain properly, but she tried. "True, but this is definitely different; their emotions aren't necessarily linked to hormones. Here on Earth, for instance, when it comes to the feelings between a man and a woman, desire often comes before love. Plenty of people have one night stands with a person they don't love and will never see again, and don't think anything of it. Love only comes for those people after the lust has cooled off. Where Mykaal and Minion came from, it's the other way around. Until they love, they don't act on their desire — or maybe they _can't_ act on it until then, or they don't experience the desire unless the love is there first. Mykaal thinks that it might have started as a kind of population control, but whatever the case, it pretty much boils down to the fact that while sexual love is something they may want and enjoy very much, strong emotional love is what they really _need _to feel truly fulfilled_."_

From the wide-eyed look she was given, Roxanne knew exactly what Astrid was thinking. "I know, it sounds like some kind of bad pick-up line, 'I want you because I love you.' I wasn't sure I believed him at first, but Mykaal told me early on in our relationship that even if it had turned out that we were totally biologically incompatible, if a physical relationship between us had been impossible, he would still have loved me every bit as much. Because of the emotional nature of his people, being physical mates comes in second to being mates of the heart. That was what he had been craving all his life, wanting not just a lover but the love of good friends who could fill the emptiness inside him."

She paused for a moment, running one finger around the rim of her empty iced tea glass while she reviewed her memories. "I thought it was some kind of weird excuse for a lot of his bad behavior at first, but now that we've been together for over three years, I know he wasn't exaggerating one bit. All those years of being a villain were just him looking for love in all the wrong places, to use an old cliche. His anger and hurt at being made an outcast were very strong, so he acted out on what to us was a huge scale — and at the same time, a part of him was trying to impress people, hoping that for some of them there would be a positive response, if not to _what_ he did then to the intelligence that went into the plans and the inventions. He wanted friendship and love so badly, he did whatever he thought he had to do to try to get them. It's why he came off as such a horrible braggart and narcissist, even when he kept failing miserably. And he knows now that it's also a big part of why he kept kidnapping me. It really _was _a sort of courting ritual even he didn't consciously understand. It seems crazy, but it really wasn't."

For some long moments, Astrid did her best to assimilate all this astonishing information. "But Tori — he isn't like _that_, is he?"

"Not entirely," was the confirmation. "Mykaal's extreme behavior is partly due to a very unique genetic condition. It's a little like his people's version of ADHD, which Minion doesn't have. But trust me, I've been around both of them for so long now, I can tell that they're more similar than they seem on the surface; Minion just has better self-control, most of the time. He hides more of what he feels than Mykaal does, but the emotions are still there, they're strong, and they're a vital part of who and what both of them are. It's really amazing, when you think about it. Most people believe that being from an advanced race just means you have bigger and better technology. They never stop to think that it can also apply to things like feelings, and how they influence our lives."

She paused to loose a huge sigh, running one hand through her short, dark hair. "I know I'm not explaining this very well, because I'm still making it sound like they're just more emotional, more dramatic. That's partly true, but that doesn't really begin to explain how important this is to who and what they are, and sometimes why they do and think and believe what they do."

Again, Astrid was quiet for a bit. "I think I'm beginning to see what you mean," she said at length. "To someone who values emotions and understands the complexity of what they are, physical instincts like procreation aren't a required part of what is necessary to achieve complete emotional fulfillment. Does that sound too... clinical?"

"Not at all!" the reporter assured her, relieved. "In fact, I'd say you just summed up what I was trying to explain in a nutshell! That's it exactly. Minion _knows_ it's possible to love someone on a very deep and close level without needing the physical expression of sexuality to feel complete, and that because it's not there doesn't mean something is missing or being denied. Earth humans barely grasp the concept; we tend to think of that kind of love as something strictly religious that still has an aspect of denial or detachment from our normal human nature. I don't think I entirely get it myself, but having been around these two and having learned some of the history of where they came from and how they got here, I at least understand that it really _is_ possible. I probably should've let Minion explain this to you, but I just had a feeling it would be easier, hearing it from another Earthling first."

"You're right, it is," the younger woman admitted, her smile returned. "With you, I have no suspicion of an ulterior motive, other than perhaps caring for a friend's happiness. But I know that you're an honest person; both Tori and your work have told me so. Maybe... maybe someday, Tori and I _will _find a way to... well, do whatever we decide we want to do, together." She said the last part shyly, but hopefully.

Roxanne's response was encouraging. "I know that whatever it is, if you both want it, it's possible. I'll tell you a secret, Astrid, but you have to promise you won't tell anyone, not even Tori. I spent a lot of years being annoyed with Megamind and being just as mean to him as most of the other people in Metro City, but the truth is that deep down, I always wished he would just wise up and quit being the bad guy so I could grab him before any of the other girls realized that under all the leather and spikes and melodrama, he was really a smart, sweet, funny guy who just needed someone to accept him and love him and help him _be_ that guy all the time. I didn't think it would ever happen, but it did, and you know, I really don't regret any of the kidnappings and the aggravation because in the end, I got what I'd been hoping for."

Astrid's shyness melted into something more confident. "Sometimes, dreams do come true — with a little persistence," she added, chuckling softly.

Roxanne laughed outright. "Oh, don't get me started on _that _— Mykaal practically wrote the book on persistence! He... really shouldn't've taken _this_ long to be put to bed!"

The blonde's humor faded to concern. "Do you think there was a problem?"

"That, or Minion _wanted _us to have a little heart-to-heart girl talk..."

"That's it," came the familiar fishy voice from the top of the staircase to the floor on which the master suite was located. Minion came out from his hiding place in the shadowy corridor around the corner, looking hesitant and embarrassed. "I'm sorry," he said most contritely as he started down the steps. "I wanted to ask if you would do that for me, Mrs. Roxanne, but I didn't know _how _to ask without sounding foolish or perverted."

"You aren't either, Minion," she assured him. "And I think it worked out better this way. If you'd asked, I probably would've put it off until I could come up with all the perfect things to say, and I would've wound up overthinking it and making a mess. Mykaal isn't the only person in the world with that problem, you know."

"It was a good idea, Tori," was Astrid's opinion, offered as she rose from the overstuffed chair where she'd been sitting. "Sometimes, when you fear saying the wrong thing, having someone speak on your behalf is better."

"And it didn't sound...well, crazy?" The ichthyoid was nervous, but hopeful.

The blonde's laugh was merry, and kind. "No crazier than a talking fish who lives and works in a robot body! I may not understand everything Mrs. Thejhan tried to tell me, but at least I'm _beginning_ to understand, and that's the best place to start. You'll help me to understand better, yes?"

From the way his fins fanned and flittered and all his teeth showed in a big toothy grin, Minion couldn't have agreed more. "Oh, yes! Yes, I'd like that! Anything you want to know, Astrid, I'll tell you everything I can! And if I don't know enough, I'm sure Sir does, or he can find out!"

Roxanne couldn't help but smile at his near-babbling excitement. "For you, Minion, I'm sure he would — and for Astrid, too. But tonight, he sleeps, and for the rest of the week if you have questions he can't answer, they'll have to wait until we get home before he goes looking. Since you made me your ambassador without asking first, I'm going to give you some advice you didn't ask for: don't rush things. There'll be plenty of time to ask questions like that later. For now, just use this time to have fun together and get to know each other better. That's a chance Mykaal and I didn't really have, not without disguises and tricks, and things would've been so much easier if we'd just been honest and open with each other a long, long time ago."

Minion knew that only too well, having had a front row seat to watch the fireworks. "That's a great suggestion, Mrs. Roxanne. For now, it's really just enough to know that we both want _something_ together. The next step is figuring out what that something really is, and not just guessing."

Astrid was in complete agreement. "Yes, one step at a time. That _is _the only way to find where the path leads, isn't it?"

The piscine was positively beaming with happy relief. "And the best way to avoid the worst potholes along the way. Maybe if you're not too tired yet, we could talk about it a little? Not here, though, I'm sure Sir and Mrs. Roxanne would like their privacy, but I'm staying in the little apartment over the boathouse. It's nice, but we could take a walk or go someplace where you'd feel more comfortable..."

"Let's take a walk out to the boathouse," the petite blonde suggested, taking Minion by the arm and steering him toward the door that led out to a raised deck and down from there to the path to the lake. "And if it's gotten any cooler outside, maybe we could take a little stroll along the shore. I've been here for almost two months and I still haven't had a chance to actually get my feet wet!"

Minion laughed softly as he politely opened the door for the young woman, not minding her subtle direction at all. Roxanne smiled to herself as she watched them go, their happy voices muffled by the door as it was closed behind them, then fading quickly as they moved off into the warm summer night. She had to admit that though she'd always prided herself on being a good judge of character, it seemed that Astrid had her beat — and Minion, fish though he was, topped them all.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	5. Invention Is

_Author's Note: To my great delight and relief, Dementia did NOT lie to me, for a change. There should be one more chapter following this one, and then I will be on to working on my next novel, Legacy. Thanks to everyone who has been faithfully reading and reviewing this odd little tale; it's been a strange little ride that I'd never expected to take - though Minion certainly deserves it! To rmroxs: I would draw Astrid if I felt I could really do her justice, but if you want to see what she looks like, look no further than Zooey Deschanel's role in the movie Elf. She's exactly what I was imagining when I first envisioned the character, just with slightly different eye color. Now, onward!_

* * *

><p>Part the Fifth<p>

Invention Is Two Percent Butterscotch Ripple

The walk along the shore went very well, as did the conversation that accompanied it both outdoors and in, and gentlemanly fish that he was, Minion made sure Astrid didn't stay so late that she wound up falling asleep on the couch in the boathouse's small living room. Her apartment — a small but tidy set of rooms above an older store on the edge of town — was quite close to the road to the lake house, only a bit more than a mile away, so when eleven o'clock rolled around, Minion politely offered to escort her home. Since they were traveling in her car, he had to walk back to the house, but given that he was impervious to both the heat and humidity as well as the mosquitoes (which could actually have made a good snack, had he been so inclined), he didn't mind at all. The whole day had gone so well, he was running on an emotional high, and like Megamind and both their peoples, once in that state of mind, it took a long time to quiet down again, especially enough to fall asleep.

The walk back to the house helped. He was glad to see that the big house itself was dark and quiet, indicating that his friends were both sound asleep. He knew that letting Megamind sleep when he wanted to was the best thing for him, right now; he'd be fully recovered before the next day was out if he just took care of himself properly. And Minion was _so _glad to have Roxanne around to help make sure he did that!

He had to admit, he'd been a little jealous at first, when his friend had started spending so much of his time with the woman, but it hadn't lasted very long. Deep down, he knew that he couldn't provide his ward with all the kinds of love he needed to be a whole person — and really, it wasn't healthy for either of them to think that he could, or should — but for a long time, he'd had to resign himself to the apparent fact that neither of them ever _would _be emotionally whole, because this strange new world had chosen to reject them.

He'd felt terrible that it actually hadn't been as bad for him — him, Tori, a _fish, _not even a biped! But then, he'd never been so terribly hurt by the Earth humans, never made so intensely angry at the injustice of being rejected before he was given even half a chance. People thought he was cute (even with his jagged teeth), and because he seldom acted out of anger and didn't go around trying to repair his damaged ego with self-aggrandizement, he was considered more socially acceptable. He'd been able to make friends and have relationships, even if they were only through correspondence.

Poor Mykaal hadn't been given enough of a chance before the serious damage had begun, and after that stupid tabloid newspaper had twisted the story of him making a silly paint bomb into something it simply wasn't, presenting him as a "bad seed" who would never be anything but evil — going so far as to take Warden Thurmer's statements out of context to make it sound like he, the boy's legal Earth guardian, thought the blue youngster was something monstrous — even distant relationships became impossible.

Minion didn't know for sure why Roxanne had been willing to forgive his ward for all the bad things he'd done to her, but that really didn't matter, in the end. What was important was that she _had _forgiven him, accepted him, and loved him back, and now, all of them had the possibility of a truly happy future ahead to make up for that dismal, awful past. He probably shouldn't have maneuvered her into having that talk with Astrid this evening, but he really hadn't known what else to do. He was grateful to her for being such a tremendous help to him, and for not getting angry once he'd admitted what he'd done, tricking her. She'd understood that it had been for a good cause. The ichthyoid would have to find some appropriate way to thank her for both her help and her understanding.

That made him remember his gift for Astrid, still not quite finished out in the boathouse. Well, since he was still somewhere up on cloud nine and wasn't likely to want to sleep for a while, he decided that he might as well get back to work on it. He'd forgotten that Astrid's birthday was coming, and that made it even more important that his gift be finished before he had to head back to Metro City.

* * *

><p>"Well?" Megamind asked his wife once the sounds of Astrid's car heading home had faded into the distance. "What do you think?"<p>

Roxanne, who'd just set aside the book she'd been reading and switched off the bedside lamp, smiled as she settled down beside her husband, who had just wakened from his several-hour-long nap. "I think it's going to work out better than either of us had thought," she said, snuggling into his side as he stretched out one arm across her waist. "I admit, I had my doubts, but unless she's the greatest actress the world has ever known, I think she's really on the level. You heard her talk over dinner, about this 'protectors of the waters' idea. If she was just a girl with some kind of crush on Minion because he's a celebrity, she sure went a long way to try to impress him! Going for a doctorate in something as obscure as limnology — and it sounded to me like she really knows what she's talking about!"

She could feel Megamind's nod, his goatee brushing against her forehead and tickling her. "She does. She knows some things about the subject that even Minion doesn't, and she seemed very..." He paused, looking for the right word.

Roxanne knew exactly what he wanted. "Passionate," she provided. "Not in the physical sense, but in the way you get when you're talking about your inventions or something that really fires up your interest. That's what she made me think of, you when you're telling me all about something new and fascinating you just learned, or when you come up with a way to make an invention work after it's had you stumped for a while."

"Passionate," he echoed. "Yes, that's the word. She wasn't faking that — though I couldn't be so sure about her friendship with Minion. Even before I decided to give up being the bad guy, there were times in prison when I'd get letters from people who said they wanted to be my friend, but only wanted to use me for their own personal gain. You know that I'm not the best judge of things like that, at least not until things have gone farther than they should. Astrid doesn't _seem_ like that sort, but... Well, we're talking about Minion. He may be a fish, but he's still my brother. If she hurt him, I don't know if I'd be able to call myself a hero after I got through with her." From the way his tone darkened, murder was the kindest thing he had in mind.

Chuckling softly, Roxanne gently kissed whatever part of him was closest to her lips, which happened to be the hollow of his throat. "You can relax, then, tiger. She's on the level. She told me some things during our girl talk that no woman would tell to just anyone, especially if she wasn't serious about liking the guy in question. She's just as anxious about finding a way to make this work without anyone getting hurt as you and Minion are, and not just because she wants to protect herself. She understands how difficult the situation could be, and she still wants to try to find a relationship that will work for both of them. She also understands what I could tell her about the way people from your planet are, how the emotions can be more important than physical relationships. She was actually rather relieved, for some of those womanly reasons I mentioned. No, I don't think there's going to be a problem. She and Minion want pretty much the same thing, and I think they'll be able to work it out, in time. So you can quit worrying and just spend the rest of the week relaxing and having a good time. That's what I told them to do, and they thought it was a good idea."

She could hear the blink in his voice. "They did?"

"Of course they did. There's no need to rush — and it's better if they don't. If you're moving so fast you can't see the potholes coming, you can't avoid them. And if _you_ just relax and have fun when we're around them, I think you'll do a lot to help them, especially Minion. He may have been your protector and caretaker for thirty-some years, but he cares about your opinions more than I think you know. He wants you to be proud of him, especially now that you're finally treating him like an equal instead of a servant."

"You talked about this in front of the girl?" He sounded incredulous.

Roxanne laughed softly. "No, silly. But I've been living with the two of you for almost two years, now, and I've been around you and seen things for a lot longer than that. Minion's always been sensitive to what you think of him and how you treat him."

There was silence for a long moment. "And I treated him like dirt for so many years." The statement was very soft, very regretful. "Okay, you're right, I should do this for him. I owe it to him, to help him get what he wants for once, after all the times he did whatever I wanted, without asking any questions." Another pause. "I really have been a terrible, awful spoiled brat for most of my life, haven't I?"

The reporter lifted her upper body away from her husband just enough to raise her head and look him in the eye. There was enough dim moonlight filtering in through the windows for them to make clear eye contact. "You were, but it wasn't as if you got that way for no reason. You were fighting to have some sense of self-esteem, and circumstances just didn't leave you many options. But that's how you _were_; it's not how you are now. A few years ago, you wouldn't have even admitted something like this. Now, you care enough about other people and what they think and feel to own up to it. That's called being mature."

It was Megamind's turn to laugh. "And who would've ever thought that word could apply to me? But I guess you're right about that, too. My people _did _ take almost twice as long as Terrans to mature completely, because of the bigger brain and the more complex neurological system."

"And that's why you took even a little longer, and why it's making so much of a difference in what you've been doing since November. You know, I was a little afraid that if you started down that road, it would change you so much, you wouldn't be the person I loved, anymore. I'm glad it hasn't. If anything, it's just made you more lovable."

She could feel the warmth suffusing his cheeks, but she could also see his smile and his shining eyes. "I was kind of afraid of that, myself. It's those emotions of ours, you know. They save us from ourselves, keep us from ever turning into living computers. I wonder if that's why they developed the way they did — though Minion's people didn't have the huge brain and they still have the same sort of emotional priority. I should look into that, it could be very interesting, and maybe important if—"

Roxanne only needed to lift her chin a little to plant one on him. She didn't stop kissing him until he'd fully surrendered to it, and she'd taught him a little about the psychophysical meaning of _passionate. _Megamind got into the lesson most enthusiastically, perfectly aware that he was being coerced into shutting up and forgetting about things like work and being a hero and the Teacher, and he was perfectly willing to go along with it.

A part of him felt sorry that Minion wouldn't ever truly know this particular aspect of love, but a part of him knew that it was a small sacrifice to make, to not know the lesser physical type of love so that one would be able to know the most fulfilling kind, the love which fed one's very soul and enriched the whole of their being. And he knew this with the only part of him that was even bigger than his immense brain; he knew it with his entire heart.

* * *

><p>The rest of the week proved that their estimates of the situation, and of Astrid, were correct. She was her own person, capable in her own right, well able to go out and tackle whatever career she envisioned entirely on her own. But she had genuine affection for Minion, not as a celebrity or as a source of youthful inspiration, but for the person he was and nothing more or less. She enjoyed his uniqueness because it was part of what made him who he was, just as Roxanne actually enjoyed Megamind's blue skin and big bald head and other alien aspects because without them, he wouldn't be him.<p>

And they did have fun. Until it was clear that the effects of Megamind's thermal shock were completely gone, they spent the days doing whatever indoor type things captured their fancy. Roxanne wanted to haunt some of the galleries to find a few things to brighten up her home office, so one day they set off to do just that, even taking the ferry out to Washington Island at the very tip of the peninsula to see what arts it had to offer, especially the fiber arts school there that was world renowned.

There happened to be a beginning weaving class going on that day, which piqued their curiosity. It turned out that Astrid knew quite a bit about weaving and spinning, skills her mother's family had practiced for generations. Minion was thrilled to discover that they shared an interest in textile arts, Roxanne was intrigued by some of the smaller aspects of weaving, like tiny hand-held looms, while Megamind was fascinated by the intricacies of the large harness looms (for which he naturally could see a few things to help make them more efficient, especially when it came to the arduous process of setting up the warp threads).

Though the class in session at the school itself was technically full, the students and teachers were willing to make enough room to let their unique celebrated visitors sit in for a while and try their hand at working the big four-harness floor looms. As to be expected, Astrid was a natural, able to sit down and go right to work without any direction, though she brushed aside the effusive praise of the others as something she really owed her mother, who had taught her the skills when she was quite young. A laughing Roxanne gave up after she'd made a tight and tangled mess of a smaller and simpler loom after only a few passes of the shuttle, claiming that this was exactly why she didn't knit or crochet or do anything with yarn or thread requiring evenly controlled tension.

Minion did reasonably well and found the process fascinating, but given his robotic hands and the myriad fine threads of the loom, he decided after his turn was up that he would stick with sewing and quilting and knitting, for which his hands were better designed, and leave this particular artform to Astrid. Megamind turned out to be a very quick study and quite proficient after a little practice — no great surprise, given his high level of dexterity and his ability to use both hands with equal efficiency — but he also babbled on while he took his turn, talking about how the origins of Earth computers and binary language were in the jacquard loom, a punch-card type system invented in 1801 to allow the automation of looms that wove complex damask and brocade patterns, and which had its roots in other, only partially automated looms almost a hundred years earlier.

By the end of the day, they returned with one or two things for Roxanne's home office and some other items from the fiber art school's shop, but not quite everything the reporter had been looking for. So the next day they visited several different pottery shops, one of which encouraged its customers to get very hands-on and attempt to make something of their own. Roxanne proved to be better at this than with the fiber arts — thanks to a long-lasting childhood fascination with modeling clay, she claimed. Minion was intrigued as she worked the clay on the potter's wheel, but he opted to watch rather than participate. Though he was fine with metalwork, he'd never worked with clay before, and he didn't want to risk damaging his robotic parts so far from the workshop where they could be properly repaired.

So he and Astrid spent their time working on glazing a couple of pieces of pre-fired greenware that the potter had on hand. Megamind was willing to jump in and show Roxanne he wasn't _really_ afraid of the slimy-feeling wet clay (though he did declare it to be absolutely disgusting to the touch), and before long he got over his aversion to the feel of it and instead got over-ambitious in his attempted creations. He was soon spattered from head to toe with the pale gray slip from working the clay on the potter's wheel, and finally he had to admit defeat in his grandiose designs. He meekly settled for making a simple little bowl that was a far cry from his magnificent vision of Art, not very impressive, but at least it didn't collapse in on itself.

Since their creations would all need at least one firing — at least two for those that had just been made today — they needed to return the next day to pick up the finished greenware and to glaze the other pieces. Roxanne considered it to be a fortunate necessity, since Minion and Astrid didn't really need to come along, and thus could have most of the day all to themselves — or all of it, if they wanted. When she pointed this out to him, Megamind quite agreed, and so when they made the offer to bring back their finished things from the potter's, the couple was not at all surprised when their friends accepted.

* * *

><p>On the fourth day, Astrid needed to spend a part of it doing laundry and cleaning her neglected apartment, for which she staunchly refused any assistance from Minion. While the fish had grown to be something of a gentleman's gentleman for his ward, she didn't want him to feel such obligations toward her. It wasn't necessary, and she felt that if they were to be equals in whatever relationship they developed, they had to be willing to handle their own dirty work. The ichthyoid didn't offer more than a token protest, half because he agreed, and half because he was grateful for the time to take care of his own business.<p>

His gift for Astrid was still unfinished, and he was beginning to despair of ever getting it done. He tinkered with it for most of that morning, and just after lunch, he finally approached Megamind for his help.

"I was really hoping I could do this entirely by myself," Minion told his partner as they headed out to the boathouse, having been waved off to do their thing by Roxanne, who was deep into a good mystery novel. "But I just don't know why the connection isn't working. I've tried and tried and tried, but I can't get it to work!"

"I presume you're not talking about an electrical or data connection," Megamind speculated after listening to the somewhat longer but still not very enlightening tale of Minion's current problem. "You handle those all the time with some very sophisticated equipment, and you know more about them than almost anyone on the planet."

"Except you," the fish sighed as they reached the door to the apartment. "I think I was kidding myself about knowing as much about these things as you do. Ah, heck, I _know _I was. But this is for Astrid, and I really, _really _wanted it to be all mine."

His blue skinned friend's smile was indulgent, yet honest. "Minion, if all I need to do is give you a hand with some kind of power coupling, it doesn't matter if I helped or not. Whatever this is, you did all the design and construction on your own. My assistance would be nothing more than a small repayment for all the years you helped me turn my inventions and ideas into realities."

His sincerity was plain, and caused a wave of relief to wash through the fish. "I suppose that's true. Thank you, sir, I really appreciate this."

"You're welcome. So, are you going to tell me what this thing you've been working on _is?" _The question came just as the door was closed behind them. Assured that they were now beyond anyone's earshot, Minion gestured for Megamind to follow him into the little kitchen. An assortment of tools and mechanical pieces were set out on the counters, almost like the flatware and dishes for a buffet dinner, but on the table itself was the main course.

The ex-villain's green eyes widened as he saw what was there. Minion had carefully covered the table's wooden surface with a cloth to protect it while he worked on his project. The project itself was a brainbot, but one very unlike all the others. For one, it was much smaller, perhaps a quarter the size of the average bot. And though it had some of the brainbots' typical features — transparent dome, sensor eye, arms beneath — the dome was mostly to the back of the thing, the front being dominated by two eyes rather than one, smaller golden-hued eyes on retractable stalks. The arms were more finely articulated than the usual brainbot's, highly flexible, tapered, and almost smooth, and there were six altogether, three long and three very short. Its jaws were less dangerous than the bear trap types of most other bots, and it had two triangular stability vanes, one on each side, to give the small thing better control in windy situations. It was lifeless now, without power, but even in this state, Megamind recognized its overall design at once.

"Tori," he said, truly surprised, "do you want to give Astrid her own _min'yaaun _— her own protector?"

The cyber-bodied fish shuffled his feet a bit, but nodded. "A protector, and a kind of companion. She loves dogs and cats and other pets, but because of how often she moves around, what with school and her jobs and going home to visit her family in Norway, she doesn't think having them would be very practical. When she visited Metro City for a day last fall, she really loved the brainbots, said they could be a perfect solution for someone in her situation, if they weren't quite so big and obvious. I thought about making her a smaller version of an ordinary brainbot, but I wanted it to be able to help protect her, in case...well, in case somebody found out she was my friend and tried to hurt her. So I got the idea of making a brainbot that was more like me than like a dog, with special security sensors and a low power version of some of the defensive de-gun functions, in case she needs help or protection."

Megamind suddenly understood. "You didn't try to use your own brain cells, did you? You know what happened when we tried to splice in some parts of my genetic structure..."

Minion rolled his eyes. "I know, we wound up with The Brain, very determined and very single-minded. But I'm not like you, sir, and I thought that if I tried to mix just a _little_ part of my genetic material with the standard brainbot cells, it could work."

The blue genius looked at the tiny containment module that was identical to the ones that held the cellular component for all the brainbots' central cores, just a little more compact. A color-changing sensor on one surface indicated that what lay inside was strong and healthy. "Doing this kind of work isn't your usual forte, though. Did you actually try to harvest your own brain cells?" He looked slightly horrified by the idea of his piscine friend attempting such a thing on his own, especially since his only hands were robotic ones controlled by his neural interface.

To his relief, Minion shook his head. "No, I probably would've killed myself if I'd tried that. I collected some other samples that were easy to get. I ran them through the equipment you used to isolate Wayne's genetic material, and then ran it through again to isolate any pluripotent stem cells it could find."

"That would be a reasonable approach to take, the stem cells would carry the basic genetic material of your kind, and the pluripotency would let it take on the general cellular-type characteristics of the cloned canine brain cells, _if_ they're sufficiently compatible in that state."

"I know, and I didn't really expect it to work. I think I did everything right, and the cellular core does seem to be doing fine in an organic sense, but I can't get it to connect to the non-cellular brain and activate everything like it should." He loosed such a huge sigh that for a moment, he all but disappeared behind the cloud of bubbles in his habitat.

Megamind smiled as he patted the dome. "There, there, you did the best you could. Really, I'm impressed that you got this far on your own. You've always seemed more than a little uncomfortable with that part of my labs."

"I was when you were trying some crazy mad scientist things, like wanting to create a superhero..."

His ward groaned. "Don't remind me! My shoulder still aches every time I think of that very, very, _very _stupid project!"

The ichthyoid's smile was now able to be seen through the clearing turbulence. "But some of the things you've done there have been truly brilliant, sir. The cellular regeneration possibilities you've come up with for helping people with nerve diseases and neurological damage are nearly miraculous, and the brainbots wouldn't be the kind of great helpers they are if you hadn't found a way to join the cloned cells with AI processors — which is making prosthetic science advance by leaps and bounds! And those aren't the only good things you've done with your research into cells and genetics. But all I could do was follow your methods as best I could. I probably made some critical mistake, chose the wrong kind of cells, messed up the splicing..."

"If you'd done that, the sensor wouldn't be giving a blue light," Megamind pointed out. "If the combined genetic material produced an untenable cell structure, we'd be seeing the yellow caution light, warning of an unviable mutation or a damaged core sample. We're not, so you did as much right in splicing and culturing it as could be done."

He stroked his goatee for a few long moments, thinking deeply. At length, he picked up the small core, examining it closely. "Would you mind if I made one or two tests? I can't promise anything, and I know you want to do this by yourself, but..."

"Oh, no, sir, go right ahead!" came Minion's eager encouragement. "That's why I asked you here in the first place, to see if you can figure out what I've done wrong, or what I missed. You're right when you say this isn't my forte, and at this point, I'll take any help I can get! I wanted to have it finished before we leave, but right now, I'll be happy if I can get it finished in time for Astrid's birthday."

"I don't think it'll take quite that long," Megamind said confidently. He looked over the instruments that Minion had neatly set out on the counters, picked up a set of fine microtools and a pair of high-magnification goggles, then took a seat at the table where a bright work lamp had been set up. Since Minion's work gloves wouldn't fit him properly and he didn't want to go back to the house to look for another pair, he handled things with delicate care, setting the core into a kind of clamp arrangement that would hold it securely above the table and allow for full global repositioning while he worked.

With it in place and the light adjusted to illuminate the spots where he needed it most, the alien genius went to work, humming to himself as he quickly and precisely examined every aspect of the containment cube. After perhaps five minutes, he used one of the finest probes to test each of the seventeen IO connection points, keeping one eye on the status light as he worked. All but two responded as they should, and the two that did not responded exactly as he'd already expected they would.

"I thought you might've missed this," Megamind said as he double-checked. "Not your fault, I don't think I ever documented this phase of the central core construction, since I was afraid that I'd be accused of hideous experimentation if the wrong people ever found out." He gently tapped the two incorrectly responding connection points. "All the other junctures are ordinary electroreactive plugs for a data stream, but these two need to be internally fused on a molecular level, the fiber-optic cable to the cellular material. It's the most cyborg part of our little cyborg friends, where the living tissue meets machine and is literally joined to it. Do you have one of my microfusers in your toolkit?"

Minion hurried to get it. "Yes, I needed something that could do such fine work to get some of the body parts to work properly, so I brought along the fuser and all of the smallest tips I could find."

"Good, because this will work best with _the_ smallest." When Minion brought over the device and its attachments, Megamind took the fuser and removed the currently attached tip while he looked over the others available. He frowned for a moment, not seeing what he wanted; the frown vanished as he spotted the one he needed. Its already small tip ended in what appeared to be an inch long length of rigid wire no thicker than a single baby-fine hair.

The ichthyoid whistled softly. "Is this what that's for?" he asked, nodding to the strange attachment as his ward snapped it into place. "I've always wondered but never remembered to ask."

"Pretty much," the retired villain confirmed. "I've used it on a few other projects, but making this particular connection is what I designed it for. I hope this one isn't damaged," he added, peering at the thing through the high-power magnifier. "You really need a microscope to see the actual tip of the thing clearly."

The fish's amber eyes narrowed a bit in concern. "Will this have to wait 'til we get home if it is?" He would be disappointed if the answer was yes, but he would also understand.

"Possibly," was the slightly distracted answer. "The best connection is one made directly at the nuclear center of a single cell, with minimal damage to surrounding tissues. That results in the clearest and cleanest flow of impulse signals between the cellular core and the optic fiber connection to the robotic control center. If the join is too big, the scarring damage to the cellular tissue impedes the flow. One of those times when bigger isn't necessarily better. But I could make do with a slightly larger tip, I've done it before. I'd just want to get something with stronger magnification to better see what I'm doing during the fusion process so I can compensate. A decent medical microscope would work, and I suspect I could persuade the local clinic to let me use theirs for the minute or two it would take. But that's presuming this tip is damaged. Let's find out first..."

As he set to work, Minion watched quietly, but closely. It had been a long time since he'd had the luxury of watching Megamind so completely wrapped up in the task of creating. For years, he'd either been distracted with worries about what his boss was attempting to do, or focused on his own tasks, or simply not there to watch because there were other things that needed attending and he was the only one willing or able to do them. Megamind was very much as he had always been, green eyes focused completely on what he was doing, face scrunched up in concentration, the very tip of his pink tongue sticking out one corner of his mouth, the lower lip of the opposite corner caught up between his teeth.

The sight brought back memories of some of the few good times from their more distant past, when the joy of creating had taken precedence over the obsession with villainy and destroying Metro Man. Minion remembered the very first time Megamind had been able to achieve his vision of creating a brainbot that worked and behaved just the way he'd wanted, and the sheer exuberance of what was a triumphant achievement. The piscine remembered his own feelings at the time, the bittersweetness, sweet because he was truly happy for his ward, but bitter because he didn't know how to make the brilliant young man understand how much more fulfilling it would be if he would use his talents in positive ways all the time.

The only real difference he could see in Megamind now as opposed to in the past was the degree of calm certainty in his careful, precise movements. All the joy and excitement of doing his techie thing was still evident in his mobile face and bright eyes and his happy humming, but it no longer was making him hasty or overconfident or causing his hands to tremble. He was indeed becoming more mature, _finally, _and to Minion, his ersatz parent, it stirred the same feelings of wistfulness for what he no longer was, a child, but much, much stronger satisfaction for what he was coming to be: a grown man in command of his abilities and able to direct the growth of his vast potential in the ways he truly wanted. The ichthyoid couldn't imagine a happier or prouder moment for any parent, and his tiny fishy chest and heart swelled with pride for his "son."

After Megamind had carefully but quickly completed the first of the two connections, he attached a probe to its data line. The probe led to a small monitor which would register and report activity on the line via a series of green lights on its upper surface. About half of them lit up when he made the attachment, their light on the pallid side. His reaction was unconcerned as he turned back to work on the second fusion. As he worked, the lights flickered, went dark for a moment, then returned.

They blinked to black again as he was saying, "Just a little bit more — there!" He drew back his hand, removing the fuser with it, and the instant it was gone, the monitor lights flared back to life, all of them now glowing a green as bright as the blue hero's eyes.

Minion blinked furiously, not daring to be too hopeful. "Sir, is it...?"

"Up and working, my piscine partner!" Megamind replied with a grin and a light punch to his guardian's metal arm. "I suppose I should've told you about this step of the process a long time ago, but I honestly thought you already knew! After all, the brainbots who work on constructing new ones are familiar with it, but... well, it was my mistake, and if I hadn't just presumed so much, you would've been able to finish this on your own. I _am _sorry."

But Minion smiled warmly even as he shook his head. "No, sir, don't be. Actually, I'm glad you did this, 'cause I enjoyed watching you. It's been a long time since I had a chance like this, and it felt good. I hope you know how proud I am, Mykaal, of you and everything you've done with your life these last few years. I couldn't be any prouder even if I really _was_ your father."

The blue cheeks flushed a brighter than usual lavender from the earnest praise. "Thank you, Tori, that means a lot to me. So, do you think you can finish things up on your own? The rest should go very quickly, now."

"I could, but I'd like it if you stayed to watch. It's the first brainbot of its kind, and since you invented all the most important parts of the design, it'd be fitting for you to be here to see it... well, come alive."

Megamind grinned. "Sort of like being the godfather, hmm?" He chuckled kindly at Minion's consternation when he caught the implication that this made him, not Megamind, the new bot's "Daddy." The ex-villain patted his shoulder. "No need to be embarrassed, old friend. I'd be honored."

And so he stayed. After another twenty minutes of carefully making connections, placing the core into its proper place, making a few adjustments — to which Megamind only added two suggestions, which he knew would result in significant performance improvement — and then sealing it up, the moment of truth arrived. From his already prepped and waiting laptop, Minion sent the activation codes. A minute of anxious waiting passed; then, the bot's dome crackled to life, the sparking light within it glowing in lovely shades of sea green. It hummed softly as all its circuits awakened, and finally, the two amber eyes lit up. They cast about inquisitively, almost instinctively searching for and finding those eyes that were so similar to its own. The bot's entire body shifted a bit, the two side fins flapped a little, then it rose up from the table, the flexible tendril arms dangling lazily below it just as Minion's own tentacles did in the water. It wiggled its small jaw, then let out a happy little soprano _bowg_ as it recognized its maker.

Minion was speechless with excitement, all his fins flittering; Megamind laughed. "Congratulations, Minion," he said, offering his friend a hearty celebratory slap on his broad robotic back. "It's a fish!"

* * *

><p><em>To be concluded...<em>


	6. Don't Leave Home Without It

_Author's Note: And so we finally come to the end of the story. As always, my humble thanks to all the readers and reviewers who came along for the ride, odd though it has been! And to give credit where credit is due, the inspiration for the brief (very brief!) discussion about reproduction came directly from the Elves of J.R.R. Tolkien, who has been one of the great inspirations for all my labors as a writer._

* * *

><p>Part the Last<p>

Don't Leave Home Without It

It had originally been planned that they would leave the following Sunday, a week after they'd initially intended to arrive (but for the early departure prompted by Megamind's insistent behavior that interfered with the doctor's orders that he rest and recuperate from his bit of heat shock). Nature's thermostat was still cranked up to full on Friday, and their idea of renting a sailboat large enough to take a long cruise out on the cooler waters of the lake wasn't possible to arrange before Monday. Since the heat wave hadn't technically broken yet and Wayne had agreed to fill in for Megamind if he wanted until the bad weather moderated, they decided to extend the vacation for a couple extra days, so that they could take the cruise and give Astrid an early little birthday party. Her employers were fine with the idea, since the three brainbots had proved most efficient and an undeniable source of amusement to their guests when they weren't on duty. Wayne, strangely enough, was a trifle less enthusiastic.

"It's not that I'm saying I won't do it," he told Roxanne when she called on Saturday morning, while Megamind and Minion were getting breakfast together in the house's kitchen, Minion valiantly attempting to teach his human brother the finer points of cooking something more complex than scrambled eggs and toast. Megamind was in a cheerful and willing mood this morning, and so he was able to laugh at his errors rather than sulk, which made for a much better lesson. As she listened to them from the dining room, where she was making the call, Roxanne reminded herself that someday, she'd really have to make a genuine effort to learn how to fend for herself in the kitchen, more than just by knowing how to stick frozen dinners in the microwave.

"I made a deal with the city and a promise to Megs, and I intend to keep both," Wayne continued his explanation. "It's just — back when I was still doing the hero gig full time, I never really paid enough _attention_ to what it felt like when people were asking me to do stupid things until it started making me feel trapped. Now that I've learned how to say no to it — cripes, Roxie, did you ever notice just how _annoying _some people can be? If you do what they want it's not good enough, and if you don't do what they want they complain because you should be reading their minds and doing what they want, and if the weather's crummy they want you to make it better for them, or they blame you for doing something that's making it worse for them, and... How the heck does Megs put up with this?"

The reporter chuckled, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "He does it by just being himself, Wayne. All those years you were lapping up the attention of everyone like a starving kitten with a gallon of cream, he was learning how to put up with a lot of crap and acting badly because of it. Most people in the city like him now, but underneath it, a lot of them are still a teensy bit afraid that if they push him too hard, he'll bite back, and they know he's capable of it. They're just starting to learn that _you_ can say no, and because you've never even pretended to hurt a fly, they probably figure you won't ever bark, much less bite. They're not afraid to act like jerks with you because they know you'll put up with it. And you still do, don't you?"

She could hear the big lug blink. "Are you saying that I should do something _bad?" _He almost sounded shocked.

She laughed. "You've _already _done something bad, Wayne, letting everyone think you were dead and then letting Mykaal take a horrible rap he didn't deserve, and then tricking them into thinking you'd lost your powers for almost two years. That's why you're doing public service, remember? No, I'm just saying that you better get used to feeling disappointed when people don't love you because you didn't do whatever they wanted."

Wayne's half-cough was clearly uneasy. "Uh... well, I want to say I don't, but I guess I kinda do. But that's only because while I was eating up the attention, I was too busy to notice what people were fawning all over me _for! _I enjoy helping out when my help is really needed, I do, but..."

Roxanne smiled wryly. "But most of what comes up is stuff the brainbots and the emergency services can handle all by themselves," she finished for him. "Yeah, we know how it feels. Why do you think Mykaal has so many bots out there giving the police and fire and rescue crews a hand? He gets to choose more of what he _wants _to do, the city forces get to feel like they're doing a job they can be proud of, and the city gets to have a larger than life Defender swooping in to protect them when something genuinely serious comes up, or Mykaal feels like showing off. If you're getting irked, it's because you haven't got the hang of letting the bots and the city's forces do their stuff. Though I guess it's not easy after twenty years of being at everyone's beck and call. And being Mr. Perfect Center of Attention, too."

The part-time hero's blush could be felt all the way across the lake and a hundred miles north. "Yeah, you're right about that. And when I 'retired,' I went and picked another profession that's in the spotlight. Man, I need to get myself some serious therapy!"

"And cut yourself a little slack," she suggested. "Tell you what: your agreement with the city only has you on call for a week. That's up on Sunday, and since Mykaal told them he could be gone longer if the heat didn't let up, they can't gripe if you let the brainbots and the police and rescue services handle things for one day. Why don't you come up and go on the cruise with us on Monday? It's a little party for Astrid, after all, and I'm sure Minion would like for her to meet you — if you just rein in the Prince Charming act and don't try to make it look like you're flirting with the girl. And you can fly us back on Tuesday morning, so unless the bad guys drop a bomb on the city, it should still be in one piece when we all get home."

She could easily hear him perking up. "Do you think Minion would mind? I don't want to horn in on a private party, but that sounds like a _lot _more fun than scolding kids for breaking open fire hydrants just because it's hot. There were thirty-three calls just for that this week, and I _know _the kids are doing it to yank my chain..."

Roxanne giggled. "That's because they know it's so easy to do it. How do you think you got stuck in such a rut that you wound up answering emergency calls to open pickle jars? People knew they could just push the right button, you'd show up, and you never really got angry about it. That's something you could learn from Megamind, you know. It might go against all your Mr. Nice Guy reflexes, but getting at least a little upset once in a while does teach people that they can't treat you like a fire alarm and get away with setting you off when there's not even any smoke. Even the fire department issues citations for that."

Wayne considered this. "Huh. You know, I never thought of it that way. With the super speed, I figured I should handle everything because I could. Not such a hot idea, I guess, it just wound up creating problems. Thanks, Roxanne, you're right, I should've thought of myself as an emergency service, not as Mr. I Can Do Anything, would've saved a lot of headaches. If you're sure none of you mind, I'd love to come. Is there anything I should bring? It's a birthday party, right? Should I bring a gift?"

Roxanne gave him a few simple suggestions, and when the call ended, she could tell the big lug was feeling better than when he'd answered the phone. She could hear the guys still working in the kitchen and decided to go read her book in the cool but sunny great room and leave them to themselves until she was called for breakfast. They sounded happy and cheerful, and she didn't want to interrupt. Over the last two days, Minion had been spending whatever free time he could catch finishing up Astrid's birthday present, and Megamind had often gone to lend a hand. The reporter didn't mind, since it was a good sign that he'd accepted his former guardian's relationship with the younger woman and was even willing to help support it.

What Minion's gift was, Roxanne had no idea, since the ichthyoid wanted her to be surprised by it, too, so she didn't know that what they were doing out in the boathouse was training the new little brainbot, preparing it to recognize the person who would be its new mistress, and to behave properly. It was a rush job, even though Minion had done everything he could to achieve that goal through basic programming, but Megamind added a few extra tweaks to help speed up the process.

When she was finally called to breakfast — crepes and fresh fruit compote and juice and coffee, all of which had been made with only a moderate amount of kitchen disaster, meaning that neither the trash can nor the sink were overflowing, there was no stench of burned food hanging in the air, and the scatterings of flour and sugar and the spatters of liquids were confined to countertops — Roxanne told them that she'd invited Wayne to come along on their little cruise, and why.

Minion was okay with it, so long as the part-time hero didn't try to make any moves on Astrid, and Megamind found his ex-rival's situation amusing. Experience had taught the reformed villain that while genuine praise and admiration were nice things to have when you could get them, with a celebrity, a lot of such things were fake, ploys used by the sheep to manipulate the shepherd. It was part of why he let the brainbots do so much of the everyday tasks the lazier people of Metrocity wanted from their heroes. That it had taken Wayne so long to figure this out made him wonder which of them actually had the greater problem with narcissism.

* * *

><p>Whatever the case, the next few days went quite especially well since on Sunday, the oppressive heat and humidity began to loosen its grip, at least in that region a hundred miles north and sixty miles west of Metro City. The metropolis was still cooking, waiting for the slow-moving cold front to make it far enough to give them some relief as well, but for those on the Door Peninsula, the relief was at least beginning to put in an appearance. Monday dawned bright and sunny, quite warm but not miserable, and out on the waters of the lake, things were more comfortable still.<p>

The boat they'd chartered was a large sailboat that came with its own crew, so they didn't have to worry about actually piloting the thing, since none of them had a great deal of experience with it. Roxanne and Megamind both knew a little about sailing much smaller boats, from lessons they'd taken the previous summer, Minion and Astrid both declared themselves totally clueless, and Wayne's experience had been watching the crews of his parents' boats at work, which had only interested him so much since the brat he'd been had thought himself vastly above such slow and menial work. Why sail when you could fly had been his belief. Now, he knew why, but he still knew next to nothing about how to make the boat move without engaging its engine. Which was not a problem, since the whole point of the cruise was for the pleasure, and none of them thought that getting frustrated and fumbling to actually sail the craft and eventually capsizing it would make for a pleasant day at all.

And it was very pleasant. The boat had been hired for the full day, from early morning until sunset, which let them make a rather leisurely trip around the upper peninsula, pausing here and there to check out things like old shipwrecks, to swim or take photos or simply admire the beautiful scenery. Astrid was almost as at home in the water as Minion, something for which she had no ready explanation, since though her home in Norway had been near the sea, the climate was not especially attractive for swimming.

"That might be why I wanted to do it so much when I first came to America," she speculated while they were enjoying a picnic lunch on the ship's main deck and the three-man crew had their meal in one of the below-decks cabins. They had decided to go swimming after the boat had arrived off the coast of Newport State Park near the peninsula's tip, where the deep blue and green waters were clean and inviting. They'd asked the crew to bring the boat closer to the shore and drop anchor where the waters were shallower and thus a little less chilly. They enjoyed half an hour of swimming, both in the deeper waters and even farther in near the sandy beaches, before coming back to have their meal on the boat, where the warm winds would dry them quickly and the shade from the luffing mainsail protected them from the searing sun.

"Water has always drawn me to it," the blonde continued to explain. "Our home was not far from the coast in Ørland. The Norwegian Sea is quite beautiful, but it was too cold for my liking, and too salty. I like fresh water, like this, especially when the surface waters are warmer in the summer."

"That would explain your interest in limnology, if you were attracted to water but didn't care for the oceans," Roxanne observed after taking a long drink from her bottle of chilled water.

Wayne let out a spluttering sigh. "I've never heard that word before today," he admitted. "You say it's the study of fresh water?"

Astrid nodded. "And its ecology, its lifeforms. Like Tori," she added with a bright and clearly affectionate smile for Minion, who flittered his fins in happy, if abashed, delight. He had gotten out of his habitat to go swimming with the others, and when they returned to the boat for lunch, Astrid had helped him back into the dome — under Megamind's protectively watchful eye, which was ultimately approving, as the blonde had been very careful, following all of Minion's directions to the letter and being very mindful of any part of him which might be easily injured or overly sensitive.

Back in his cybersuit, the fish was now sitting on the deck with the others, his dome still open so that he could eat his share of the lunch. His happy flittering sent a small spray of water splashing in Astrid's direction, but she merely laughed and boldly reached into the open habitat to lightly tickle the ichthyoid's knobby dorsal crests. He gave her a more sizable and more deliberate splash in return, also laughing.

Wayne's sigh doubled in size. "You know, this is really depressing," he said, looking at Astrid and Minion and their cheerful companionship as well as the comfortable closeness of his former foe and the ex-damsel in distress. "I always figured that when the time came, I wouldn't have any trouble finding a girl and settling down, and now look at me! Every girl I know or meet is either spoken for or not interested — heck, even The Fish found someone before I did! Am I just looking in the wrong places, or is it me?"

"Oh, it's _you,_ Zan, definitely," Megamind said drolly, winning himself a half-hearted scolding nudge from his wife.

"Actually, you're probably right," Roxanne told him in apology before turning back to the superpowered musician. "Wayne, you've spent most of your adult life as the ultimate center of attention, and when you didn't like that spotlight anymore, you went into seclusion, lied to the whole city about what had really happened for over two years, and spent most of that time hanging out by yourself or with the guys in your band, in another kind of spotlight. It could be that you haven't met anyone who's interested in the real you because nobody knows who the real you _is."_

The big lug murfled for a bit, not willing to accept that possibility just yet. "I guess, but I feel like the parade's just passed me by, that maybe I've waited too long or something."

The three friends he'd known for years didn't argue; neither did Astrid, though she offered another opinion. "I wouldn't think that your age would be an issue for most women. Are you sure you're heterosexual?"

The blunt question caused anyone who was chewing or swallowing to suddenly spit out what was in their mouths. Roxanne had to almost literally sit on Megamind to keep him from laughing too uproariously, and had to put a hand over her own mouth to keep her chuckles from getting out of hand. Not that the idea was offensive, it just had never, ever come up before, and given the former Metro Man's family and macho image, anything of the sort would have been locked in a closet and welded shut decades ago. That Astrid would bring it up as easily and as matter-of-factly as a person might ask after the weather was what made the situation so amusing. None of them, especially Wayne, had seen that coming, or had imagined it would _ever _come up.

After Wayne stopped choking on his bite of sandwich, he coughed for the better part of a minute before he finally managed to rasp out, "Uh...er... ah... I don't — that is, I... er, well, I'm _pretty_ sure I am. I mean, I like girls, most girls, anyway." He swallowed. "Do you think I shouldn't — not _shouldn't, _I guess, it's more like, do I give off some kinda strange vibe to you or something, is that why you asked?" He seemed genuinely perplexed.

Astrid shrugged. "Vibe?" she echoed, having to consider the term for a moment. "Oh, no, no vibe, I just wondered if you'd considered it, if you seem to be having troubles forming relationships. Sometimes, it happens because people are confused or deny what truly attracts them. Men who have been looked up to because of their physical strength or their powerful position sometimes feel pressed to be what they are not, because of the expectations of others. But to be happy, we must be honest, with ourselves and others."

"That _is _true," Megamind agreed, his laughter now under control. "I thought I had to be a villain, other people insisted I must be evil, and I was never happy until I told myself the truth."

"They've both got a point, Wayne," Roxanne chimed in. "Sometimes, we lie to ourselves because we're afraid of what other people will say or think, and while you were Metro Man, there was a lot of pressure on you to be Mr. Clean and Perfect in all ways possible."

Even Minion had an opinion. "I hope you know that it wouldn't matter to any of us, Mr. Wayne. We're all friends, and I think even Sir just wants you to be happy." The meaningful look he gave his partner in crime fighting did not go unnoticed.

"Oh, of course!" Megamind replied with an extravagant wave of his long-fingered hands. "I wasn't really laughing _at _you, Zan, I was just... surprised. After all, for years, everyone in Metrocity had you up on a mile-high pedestal as the example of perfect masculinity, every woman in town swooned at the sight of you — present company excepted," he said, planting an apologetic and grateful kiss on Roxanne's cheek. "It would seem just a little ironic if it turned out that your interests... lay elsewhere."

Even Wayne had to admit that that was true. He calmed his riled thoughts as best he could, and pondered things again. Finally, he shrugged. "I think I'm sure I'm not gay," was his conclusion. "But I have to admit, I haven't exactly done a lot of soul-searching, that way. I know that I was definitely _interested _in Roxanne after I first met her, and I've been interested in other women both before and since, but... I think I've only been looking for one kind of a relationship, romantic, and when it doesn't work out, I move on. That's pretty selfish, isn't it? I mean, how can I ever expect to find something more than just friendship if I don't even work on developing the friendships I have the way I should?"

Roxanne patted the musician's knee. "Wayne has just had an epiphany," she announced, as if reporting major breaking news. "If you want someone to be _more_ than just a friend, you have to _start_ with being a decent friend to them."

Megamind blinked owlishly at her. "Really? Then how did _we_ go from being reporter and kidnapper to a couple without first going through months and months of just hanging up together?"

She chuckled. "Hanging out," she corrected. "And sweetie, with some people, getting to know one another can take some pretty strange turns. Couples like us make sparks between them long before they make nice, and once the sparks catch, the change goes like wildfire."

"That's for sure," Minion confirmed, having been a witness to the whole process. "If you'd made any more sparks, the whole Lair would've been reduced to cinders every time the two of you were within a mile of each other! And I don't think even wildfire's the right word to describe how fast things lit up once you both admitted that you liked each other!"

Wayne sighed wistfully. "I know, and I think that I'm kinda jealous. That's what I want, to find someone who has that kind of chemistry with me — well, maybe not _that _kind of chemistry, exactly, something a little more tame and conventional would be enough. But someone who inspires me, and who I can inspire. I think I've wanted that ever since I was a kid and saw how other kids' parents behaved. Like they really, truly loved each other and were interested in each other. Not what I saw in my folks. I guess I'm just not patient enough to experiment and find how to mix the chemicals right. I want it happen right away, and when it doesn't, I give up and move on."

Megamind grinned, though he didn't laugh. "Then that's your problem, right there. You _know _I never give up, even when I have no chance of winning. If you give up before the game even starts, you can't _ever _win."

Astrid and Minion both nodded at the same time. "Sometimes you just have to go for it, Mr. Wayne, even if it seems impossible," the ichthyoid recommended. "Nothing's perfect, and if you keep waiting for _that _to come along_, _you'll wind up waiting forever."

The amber eyes blinked rapidly, suddenly realizing how that might have sounded. "Oh, Astrid, I'm sorry!" he said, sputtering. "I didn't mean to say you're _not _— that is, what I meant was... oh, I've stuck my foot in my mouth, haven't I? — and I don't even have feet...!"

The blonde reached into the dome and gently stroked the top of his head, calming him before he started to try swimming in circles and banged himself against the unbreakable glass. "It's all right, Tori, I understand. If things could be perfect, I would be of your kind or you of mine, and the world would never look on people who are different and judge them harshly. But _almost_ perfect can be more than enough — sometimes even _better_ than perfect," she added, her hazel eyes shining as she gave Minion a shy but affectionate glance. "It can open doors you didn't even know _could_ be there."

Her quiet sensibility calmed the worried piscine, and he smiled his relief as he gently rubbed against her fingers in fond gratitude for her understanding. Megamind and Roxanne watched their exchange with indulgent approval, Wayne with something like wonder.

"That's true," he admitted, mostly to himself. "When you have people literally throwing themselves at you, you kinda get to thinking you _can _have anyone you want, and that the absolutely perfect person is out there — but if _everyone_ comes off looking like a fixer-upper, maybe they aren't the ones who need fixing."

He let loose a huge sigh as he ran one hand through his dark but beginning to gray hair. "Okay, you've all given me a lot of things to think about, and some things to work on." He favored Astrid with a broad smile. "I'm still pretty sure I'm not gay, but I'll keep an open mind, just in case. Gotta admit, I never even thought about it before."

He winked at her in the old smarmy way he'd been doing ever since he landed on Earth, and got himself a perfectly aimed blast of water square in the face as a reward. While Wayne coughed and swiped away the warning shot, Astrid looked at Minion to see if he'd done it, but Roxanne looked to Megamind, who was brandishing his wicked water pistol.

"I may have to consider a setting like this for the de-gun," the former villain said ever so innocently, as if the whole thing had been merely a field test for new equipment. "_If _I can think of an appropriate name for it! Say, isn't this supposed to be a birthday party?" he added casually, and just as eagerly. "Where are the presents? Isn't it time for presents?"

Roxanne laughed. "It's not _your _birthday, hon..."

Astrid was about to point out that it wasn't _really _her birthday, either, not for another three weeks, but Megamind answered first, his spirits dampened not in the slightest. "Of course it isn't, but I like _giving _presents, too!"

That was inarguable, as the reporter well knew; she'd never known anyone who could take as much delight and excitement out of being the giver of gifts as Megamind. If he hadn't been blue, thin, and obviously alien, she might've suspected him of being related to Santa Claus. "Okay, then I guess this is as good a time as any." She started to rise to go fetch their things from one of the cabins when Minion forestalled her, offering to bring them with his own, which he wanted to handle himself, being larger and heavier. Wayne went along to fetch his own gift from his duffel bag.

While they were gone and could be heard talking with the crew, Astrid turned to Roxanne and Megamind. "This is all very sweet and generous of you," she confessed, "but it's been a very long time since I celebrated my birthday. At home, adults give their own parties, and between my family's troubles and my schooling, I haven't been able to afford it for many years. It feels very unfair to let you do this, especially since it's not really my birthday..."

Roxanne offered a sympathetic smile. "I think all of us but Wayne understand what it's like, not being able to afford to do what we'd like when we'd like. But the customs are different here in America, and _we _can certainly afford this, so why not?"

Megamind nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, why not? Ever since I gave up villainy and my assets were released to me, I've had more money than I know what to do with, and spending it to help other people or make them happy makes _me _happy. Letting us do this for you, and for Tori, is sort of giving _me _a gift, Astrid, so you can think of it that way, if it makes you feel better."

The hazel eyes looked directly into the big green ones and found their expression to be completely sincere, without the slightest trace of dissembling. Astrid glanced at Roxanne and saw her nodding slightly, confirming that the blue hero was being honest with her, saying what he genuinely felt and believed, not what he might think she wanted to hear out of politeness. She finally gave in. "Thank you, Mr. Thejhan, this is very kind of you."

He snorted, amused. "It's nothing of the sort, you know, it's just indulging my whims. And you do know that until recently, Minion was always the parent in our relationship, so you can just call me Mykaal, or Megamind if you prefer. I'm not _that _much older than you, after all, and Tori and I are more like brothers, now."

The blonde glanced again at Roxanne, to make certain she was all right with this familiarity. The older woman smiled. "Yes, and please, call me Roxanne. I know that Minion — Tori — likes to put Mrs. in front of it, but it's just a habit of his, and if it makes him more comfortable, I don't mind. He's the sweetest and most polite person I know, fish or human, but I'm even younger than Mykaal, and I'd much rather we treated each other as sisters."

Astrid's smile brightened at their acceptance. "Thank you, Roxanne, I'll try to remember that. And if you don't mind, I'd like to use Mykaal. I've thought it was a beautiful name ever since I heard it last summer. I wonder if you'll ever know what it means?"

Megamind's entire demeanor perked up, becoming animated and eager to share what he had learned. "Oh, that! Oh, we already know what it means, it was in the very first 'lesson' I had with the Teacher! It seems that there was no such thing as a surprise baby among my people, they'd evolved so that conception only occurred between two adults when _both _wanted a child, so there were all sorts of elaborate social conventions that grew up around the various pre-birth stages, and their science was so advanced, they knew not only the baby's gender but his or her genetic structure by the end of the first quarter, and from that information they were able to draw certain highly educated conclusions about the kinds of gifts and abilities the child would have, so it was traditional for them to select the baby's name after those tests were done, and my parents—"

"Here we go, presents!" Minion's cheerful voice interrupted before Megamind's excited babble mode could get too far out of hand. "Sorry it took so long, I couldn't find yours in the same tote bag with Mrs. Roxanne's, sir."

That remark instantly derailed the train of babble from the ex-villain. "Is it lost? Did you find it?" His concern made it sound as if such an event might bring about the end of the world.

"Oh, yes," he was immediately assured as Minion held up a tiny bright blue gift bag with silver sparkles on both it and the darker blue tissue paper peeking out from the top. "It just migrated somehow over to the beach bag. Good thing nothing wet was put in it!"

When he and Wayne rejoined the others, he set down the things he'd been carrying, the little bag, a larger one with a cheerful print of fish and seashells, and a largish box neatly wrapped in sea-green paper and tied with a long white and blue striped satin ribbon. Wayne set down his gift with the others, a small box wrapped in white with a rose-pink ribbon.

The part-time hero's gift turned out to be a simple silver bracelet with a single large bead of blue and white and green in a swirled pattern like waves. "Roxanne told me you were into some kind of water studies, I didn't understand exactly what until you explained it just now, but I thought this went with that. It's one of those bracelets that are popular now, you use 'em to collect beads to remember different special occasions. I hope it's not too personal or too sappy," he added blushing faintly.

Astrid's smile was friendly, nothing more. "It's lovely, Mr. Scott, thank you. This bead can be a memory for what has become a wonderful summer, and for a new friend I've made today."

Wayne's blush grew more fierce, amusing Megamind to no end, though Minion seemed more interested in having a look at the gift than in Wayne's stammered, "Y—you're welcome." It was a good thing Astrid didn't offer any physical display of her appreciation, like a friendly hug or a kiss on the cheek, or Wayne's head would probably have exploded under the pressure.

Roxanne's gift came next, a beautiful hand-woven silk shawl in soft greens and blues and purples that Astrid had admired greatly in the fiber art school's shop, but had not been able to afford. The reporter had noted her interest and had sneaked in the purchase while Megamind and Minion had kept the young woman distracted, looking over some of the looms that were for sale. Her hazel eyes went wide now, seeing the pretty thing she had coveted, and for several moments, she was speechless. "Oh, Mrs. Thejhan, I didn't know you'd seen me looking at this! It was so beautiful, but so expensive...!"

"I know," the reporter replied, eyes twinkling. "But like Mykaal said, we have more than enough money, and I remember what it was like when I was still in school, scraping to make ends meet and cover tuition and all, never enough to indulge in some of the things I would've loved to have had but couldn't afford. And remember, it's Roxanne."

This time, Astrid did offer a hug of gratitude, so touched was she not just by the gift, but by the fact that this woman she had only come to know a few days ago empathized with her position, and had cared enough to pay attention to the things she had been pining for.

"Mine next!" Megamind insisted cheerfully, nudging the tiny blue bag across the smooth planks of the deck. It was like watching a little kid twitching with anticipation, convinced he had found the perfect gift, impatient to see the reactions to his clever thoughtfulness.

The bag was very light, so light that it seemed to have nothing in it but the tissue paper, but Astrid was certain there was no prank being played. She took out the tissue, unfolded it, and found a black metal card inside, with her name and other information embossed on it.

She looked from it to Megamind, totally perplexed. "A... gift card?" she speculated.

He grinned. "Sort of. I had the bank I do most of my business with set that up and express it here early this morning. It's connected to my unlimited credit account, and it's for you to use when you go back to _shkool_, to pay for your tuition, your books, your housing, whatever you need."

When she looked shocked and stricken and he just _knew _she was going to refuse it, he hurried to explain. "Minion's told me how difficult it's been for you almost from the start. Your family isn't wealthy, the scholarship you won only paid for your first year at the university, and ever since, you've had to struggle to make even part of the tuition, so you have a lot of loans and debts to pay off. It shouldn't _be _that way. I've seen your transcripts, and you're very smart and very good, and the _shkool_ should be _honored _to have you as a student, not bleeding you dry before you even have a chance to start your career! So I want to do this, for you, and for Minion, and for everyone you'll help once you have your degree and start to actually _work _in your field. I don't want you to have to worry about money while you're finishing _shkool, _or after you're done. No more loans, and I'll make sure the debts you already have are cleaned up and paid off."

Astrid was quiet for a moment, still stunned by what he was saying. "But — but _why?" _she finally managed to squeak out in little more than a whisper.

His broad grin softened. "For several reasons. For one, I don't like the way some people have been profiting obscenely from something as essential as education, which should be affordable for everyone who wants it, not just for the wealthy elite. For another, if you're stuck with a mountain of loans to be paid off after you're done, it means you'll have to go wherever you're offered the most money, not where you _want_ to go — or where Minion might want you to be. And for still another, because it's something I hope I'll be able to do someday, if not teach people directly then at least mentor and assist as many as I can, to help them be the best they can be and have a chance to live their dreams. _I _got that chance, even after I'd wasted most of my life being a villain and a public nuisance, so it's only fair if I help others when I can — especially others who are important to me, or to people I care about. Right now, I'm still a part-time Student myself, it's going to be a long time before I'm done with _my _education, and I still have my work as Metrocity's Defender to do, that's _very_ important to me, too. This is something I _can _do now, and I can afford it a few million times over, so why shouldn't I?" His last question held a note of honest confusion.

Astrid didn't quite know what to say, so Minion spoke first. "Sir, that's _very _generous of you, and very thoughtful. I've been wanting to ask if you could help, since I know you've thought about being a teacher or a mentor, and _I_ certainly don't have that much money — and Astrid, he isn't joking when he says he can afford it, a few million times over. If you really feel uncomfortable accepting this, I'll understand, but speaking for myself, it's an opportunity I'd be sorry to see you pass up."

For a minute or more, the blonde looked down at her hands and the black card she held. She turned it this way and that, studying its different angles as she studied those of what she was being offered freely, as a gift. Finally, she looked up at Megamind, then at Minion, then back at Megamind again, and a small, crooked smile crossed her face. "If I follow my own words and am honest... I think I'd be sorry to see me pass it up, too. Thank you, Mr. — Mykaal," she corrected herself, smiling more fully as she leaned forward to lightly kiss his cheek. "I never thought to be blessed with such a generous gift. I'll work very hard, to make sure that not a penny of it is wasted."

His face flushed bright lavender from both her words and the unexpected kiss. "I'm sure you won't disappoint me," he managed to say in spite of his fluster.

Now it was Roxanne's turn to smile crookedly. "You've got a big heart, sweetie," she praised her spouse. "But maybe you should've waited to go last. How can Minion top _that_?"

"Easily!" Megamind replied with a sniff, taking largely feigned offense at her intimation that he would show up his own ersatz brother in front of his lady friend, with mere money. "Minion! Is your fantastic present ready to be presented?"

The ichthyoid grinned at his ward's deliberately over-extravagant question. "Yes, sir, as ready as it'll ever be!" He took the box and set it in front of Astrid, easily within her reach. "All you have to do is pull the ribbon to untie it and lift the lid. I wanted to make sure it was easy to unwrap."

Curious but smiling, the blonde pulled one end of the satin ribbon as directed. The bow undid itself smoothly, and as the ribbon fell away, the box lid popped up an inch or two, hovered there for a moment, then dropped back again, startling more than Astrid. When she exclaimed, "Oh!" the lid popped up again, and this time she saw two bright amber eyes blinking at her, and her own widened. "Oh, Tori, you didn't get me something _alive, _did you?" She sounded torn between delight and stern scolding.

Minion grinned toothily. "Well, not alive like a kitten or a puppy, but in a way... I guess I did, Astrid—"

At the sound of the woman's name, the box lid not only popped up, but kept going, rising to eye level with Astrid as the little new brainbot, excited to finally meet the person for whom he had been made, zipped about her head in a happy flying dance, bowging his odd but cheerful high-pitched bowg with pure delight, the box lid still perched atop him like a peculiar hat.

When Astrid said, "Ah, stop, I can't see you!" just before Minion was about to order the bot to cease his antics, the new brainbot did just as she asked, hovering in front of her, again at eye level. She reached out to remove his obscuring "hat," and cried out in delight when he blinked his amber eyes and flittered his "fins" in cyborg happiness. "Tori, it's just like you, a brainbot like one of your people! Did you make this yourself, just for me?"

When Minion started to say no, not exactly, Megamind interrupted. "Yes, he did, and don't let him tell you otherwise," the blue genius declared firmly. "I helped him finish a few things, but he wanted this done before we had to head home. He did everything that was important, from designing it to building it, and if he'd had a little more time, I'm sure he could've completed everything on his own."

Roxanne had come a little closer to have a better look at the new bot, and when he sensed her nearing, he turned to look at her, but immediately identifying her as someone "safe," did nothing more than blink back at her curiously. She laughed. "Minion, this is marvelous! I didn't know you could make a brainbot so different from the others — and so small! Does it have a name?"

"Not yet," the ichthyoid replied, glad that the bot had followed his security recognition programming and saw Roxanne as a friend, as well as Wayne, who'd also come to have a closer look. "I made him for Astrid, so I thought she should have the honor of naming him."

"Him," the delighted blonde echoed. "Did you deliberately make it to be male — as much as any of the brainbots have a real gender?"

"It's mostly 'male' in the type of personality," Megamind explained while the three who had never seen the bot before checked him out and were checked out by him. "The cloned cells in the brain core aren't sexual in nature, but it's easier to design and program a type of behavior you're personally familiar with."

"That's pretty much it," Minion confirmed. "I designed him and built him, so I did what I thought I could do best. I wanted him to be as perfect for you as he could be." He blushed a bit in his own way even as he said it.

Since his dome was closed again, Astrid settled for laying on hand against the glass closest to him, like a gentle touch to the cheek. "That's very sweet of you. Then if I have the privilege of naming him, I think I'll call him Torvenn." When the others gave her an assortment of puzzled looks, she said, "In the old language, it could mean strong friend or brave friend, but in the new it could mean Tori's friend. That was what I was thinking," she said as she looked back to the fishy little brainbot. "You made him to be my friend when I'm alone, here and at school, yes?"

Minion nodded his whole little body vigorously, even as the bot did the same. "Yes, that's right, I didn't want you to feel so lonely just because you're working so hard. He — Torvenn," he corrected giving the bot his new name. "He's designed to help you when you need it, or be a companion when you need it. And I gave him a few extra features to help make sure you're—"

As the crew came up to the deck to weigh anchor and get the boat back underway after the lunch break, Torvenn identified them as strangers and immediately went to check them out, zipping about and bowging up a storm, letting them know that he was on duty and would protect his new mistress against all foes. After a chorus of "no" and "don't" and laughter from the others failed to get the little bot to stand down and allow the crew onto the deck, Minion whistled him off, his entire little body trembling with embarrassment.

"—secure," he'd finished just as Torvenn became defensive. "I think I'll have to make some adjustments to his security parameters," he added when the bot finally retreated to hide on Astrid's lap, aware that he'd made a mistake.

"Or he just needs a little experience," the blonde suggested. "I think he was just excited, and wanted to show me how good a protector he could be. It wasn't a big mistake, no one was hurt. Let's see how he behaves himself for the rest of the day before you change him, all right?"

Minion accepted her suggestion, since after all, Torvenn _was_ her present. While Astrid essentially took the new little bot in hand to properly introduce him to the crew and teach him about the mannerly way to approach people who were making no threatening moves or sounds, Minion tagged along, just in case intervention was needed, and Wayne collected up the other gifts and wrappings and put them in the empty box and moved them to the safety of the cabins, before the wind or the movement of the boat could blow them overboard. They were soon back underway, following the favored wind down the southern coast of the peninsula, with five passengers and one happy little brainbot giving the crew a helping hand — or in Wayne's case, a helpful puff of super-breath — along the way.

* * *

><p>Later in the afternoon but still well before sunset, they had the crew anchor the boat for a while in the deeper waters off of Cave Point, a location that had a lot of happy memories for many of them. Astrid had never had a chance to visit the Point before, as most of her time spent in the area was spent either working or resting or preparing to go back home or to school. Being a bit of a long swim, Wayne offered to carry her and Minion to the bluffs so she could have a look around while Roxanne took some pictures from the vantage of the boat.<p>

While the trio and Torvenn were on shore and the crew was dealing with a tangled line while listening to a baseball game on the radio, Megamind tiptoed up behind his wife and slipped his arms around her waist as he settled his chin on her shoulder. She was only mildly startled, having half-expected it after seeing the movement of a large-headed shadow out of the corner of her eye.

"Did Minion really make him all by himself?" Roxanne asked gesturing toward their friends and the little brainbot zipping about the Point, keeping a close eye on his new mistress.

Megamind nodded. "All but two connections and a few minor tweaks and adjustments. What he did was really quite impressive, coming up with such a different body type and design that works so well. I'm very proud of him."

Roxanne turned her head to kiss his cheek. "And I'm proud of you for saying that. Have you ever thought of trying any other different types, something besides a dog? A cat, for instance?"

He winced. "We tried a cat, a long time ago. It... didn't work very well." From the way he said it, Roxanne suspected the battle between cat and dogs had torn the Evil Lair to pieces. "And have you forgotten the Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Kittens?"

She shuddered. "Ugh, don't remind me. After that, I was _almost _convinced that you really _were_ Evil, with a capital E."

"So was I," he muttered confidentially. "I don't think anything made me come closer to giving it up for good — until you did." He playfully nuzzled her neck and ear until she hummed with pleasure. "You know," he said softly when he was sure he had her full attention, "Astrid's birthday isn't the only special event coming in just a few weeks."

Roxanne smiled impishly. "Yes, I know. Didn't they move the Metro County Fair to late August?"

He blew a soft raspberry into her ear. "I wouldn't know," he huffed. "_I_'ve been busy thinking of a more _momenTEEus _occasion!"

"The first day of school? They're starting before Labor Day this year, you know..."

She could feel his pout. "Yes, I know, the mayor and the head of the _shkool_ board have been reminding me ever since _shkool_ let out for the summer. Really, Roxanne, you're being cruel..."

She relented and turned in his arms so that they stood nose to nose, her camera's shoulder strap conveniently saving it from an untimely dunk in the lake. "Yes, I know, but I'm just teasing. How could I forget our first anniversary? Even if you never mentioned it, Minion thinks it should be declared a national holiday — or at least a regional one."

"It should be," Megamind agreed with pride. "Have you given any thought to how _you'd_ like to celebrate it?"

"Away from work, that's for sure," the reporter said with a groan. "The network wants a whole string of special reports done for the start of the fall season in September, so I'll be putting in a lot of work right around then. But," she added when a look of horror caused his blue face to pale, "I've already made it _very _clear to everyone from the network brass on down that on the twenty-fifth, I won't be in. So I'm afraid we can't do anything too big — but I'd really like a romantic, _intimate_ celebration just for two more than anything else. Wouldn't you?"

Her emphasis on the word _intimate _brought the color and a naughtily pleased smile to the ex-villain's face. "Hmm, and just how _intimate _did you have in mind? Will we need to find some reason to have Minion and the brainbots leave the Lair for the night?"

Her answering smile was even more wicked. "No, I think that with all the soundproofing you put in the walls, just keeping them out of our bedroom for the night should do. 'Cause I've already ordered something special for the occasion that's for your eyes only."

He swallowed, but mostly from anticipation. "I like the sound of that."

"Good," she purred back, "because while I was at it, I added a little something for _you_ to the order — with the emphasis on the 'little'."

"Wicked temptress," he growled back, and a conveniently timed swell caused the boat to bob gently, enough to close the gap between their lips with the smooth precision of two powerful magnets being drawn together.

The crew politely kept to themselves, and the couple was too wrapped up in each other to notice anything else until Wayne flew back with Minion and Astrid, a cheerfully bowging Torvenn following close behind. The bot zipped around Megamind and Roxanne just to be sure they weren't actually in the middle of a wrestling match, then returned to Astrid and Minion, chirping happily to see that all was well.

And it was indeed.

The End


End file.
